


Hell's Kitchen Is A Small Place

by Justybean



Category: The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Domestic Violence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Jessica Jones and Daredevil Season 1 Happened, No Defenders, just a little bit though, nothing else, nothing graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 00:31:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12569652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justybean/pseuds/Justybean
Summary: Jessica Jones had quite literally punched her way into Matthew Murdock's life, and he was pretty sure he couldn't imagine it without her anymore.





	Hell's Kitchen Is A Small Place

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, I'm back! Took me a lot longer to write this one, and I'm still not SUPER happy with the ending but I'll fight with it forever if I don't cut myself off. Plus I still have more ideas that need to be written into other stories. Can't stop won't stop!
> 
> I suppose this could have been broken into chapters, but I'm worried I'll not finish if I let myself do that. So one page stories it is!
> 
> Please let me know what you think and as always, constructive criticism is always welcome!

There was a significantly less amount of people who hadn’t heard of Jessica Jones after her incident with Kilgrave. She was on  _ a lot _ of watch lists, and people on the streets either regarded her as a hero or as a terrible killer with no in between. There was a drastic divide in opinions, but she seemed to ignore all of them either way. Those who remained blissfully ignorant of her and her actions continued their lives as they always had. The abnormally strong P.I. was just another face in the crowd for them

 

Matthew Murdock was not one of those ignorant people.

 

He hadn’t heard of Kilgrave and the things he had done until after Jessica had dealt with it. A few newspapers had printed her story, each one taking a very different stance on what had happened. Matthew didn’t approve of killing, but even he had to admit it was hard to imagine keeping a man who could apparently make anyone do anything contained for any real amount of time. He didn’t like it, but he supposed he could see the necessity. Kilgrave would have been an endless problem, one that he didn’t want on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Ever. 

 

So he chose not to view Jessica as a hero or as a villain, but simply as someone who did what she needed to do. He’d listen and make sure he didn’t hear anything else about her in his city, but otherwise he’d give her, her space. They hadn’t crossed paths before, and they didn’t need to now. Except apparently, the world felt differently about that.

 

Matthew Murdock had heard of her, but it was Daredevil who met her first.

 

\--

 

Mrs. Mary Cook had come to Foggy at Nelson and Murdock a shaking, crying mess. She had smelt of excessive makeup and heavy perfume that made it seem like she was standing right in Matthew’s office, despite the fact that she was standing in his friend’s. Fear seeped out of her every pore. Clearly it had taken a lot for her to even come here.

 

Foggy had called Matthew over to help him figure out what was happening. It had taken ages to convince her she was safe with them and that it was okay to talk. Mary took a deep breath, settling herself slightly before launching into her story.

 

Her husband - Jesse Cook - had been involved in some pretty nasty things for a very long time now. She hadn’t said anything at first, but their son Oliver was getting older and she feared what kind of influence this would be on him. When she approached her husband he had been furious at her questioning him, and had thrown her across the room. 

 

Mary had burst into fresh tears again at this point and Matthew was filled with rage. When Foggy had calmed her down enough to keep talking again, nothing improved. Jesse hadn’t stopped with just that. He had taken it upon himself to hit her more and more often making sure she didn’t question him ever again. Mary’s voice shook again as she explained that he was threatening their son now too. The excessive makeup made sense now. She was covering up bruises. Matthew focused everything inside himself to reamin calm and professional. It wouldn’t help Mary if he started balling up his papers in anger.

 

She didn’t want much, honestly. Just a divorce with sole custody and a restraining order for her and Oliver. She didn’t even care if he went to jail. She just wanted out. Mary was afraid of how Jesse would react to what she was doing, but seemed to strengthen just a bit whenever she mentioned Oliver’s name. She was doing this for her son and would hold strong. Matthew felt a great amount of admiration for her.

 

Foggy and Matt had no problems about accepting the case, even after Mary’s warnings that Jesse knew some really awful people and wouldn’t be happy with them when he found out. They appreciated the warnings, but reassured her they wouldn’t be frightened out of helping her.

 

As Foggy took down some more details from their new client, Matthew listened for anything that would help him locate Jesse later tonight.

 

Luckily for him, Jesse was not a difficult man to track down. Him and his group were incredibly vocal. The man himself had a bad habit of bragging, and his three goons seemed to shout his name whenever they could, as if they were talking about some big gangster everyone knew. They clearly weren’t geniuses. 

 

Matthew found them in a seedy bar drinking the night away, and he settled in to wait on the roof above them. Sure he could go in, but there were far too many innocent witnesses right now. And besides, if he let them drink for a while they would be much easier to subdue when they finally made their way out.

 

They seemed content to sit in their booth all night, slowly getting drunker and drunker with each round set before them. They discussed an array of aggravating topics, including Jesse’s family and how he ‘had a tight leash on them.’ Matthew curled his fists at that. He was getting insights into exactly what Jesse was up to, and how to track down some of his operations, so it wasn’t a total waste of time.

 

At one point in the night Matthew noted that there was someone standing across the street from the bar, leaning against a dirty brick wall and watching the exterior intently. He could tell it was a woman and she was irritated beyond belief with whoever it was she was waiting for inside the bay. It was strange for someone to just be standing there, but not strange enough for it to warrant more of Matthew’s attention. She wasn’t doing anything sinister, and he had someone much more problematic to take care of tonight.

 

Finally the group of men poured out of the back exit of the bar. It was exactly what Matthew had been hoping they would do, as it led right to an alley. Saved him the work of dragging them into it and out of view. Matthew let the heavy bar door shut behind them before he jumped down in front of the group. There were several exclamations, including a very eloquent “Oh, shit.” from Jesse himself.

 

Matthew didn’t give them time to do much else. The four of them had each produced some sort of small weapon - no guns, which was a blessing - and lunged at Matthew. He took out the three lackeys first. He didn’t need anything from them tonight. A couple time they got in a few solid hits. No knife wounds thankfully, but he would have a split lip tomorrow from a punch that involved a ridiculously oversized ring. Matthew took them all out, creating a pile of knocked out wannabe gangsters on the dirty floor of the alley.

 

Jesse wasn’t any more difficult to deal with. Matthew bent the man’s arm back, making him drop the switchblade he had been holding out. Now that his target was weapon free, he grabbed the man by his collar and lifted him up off the ground. Jesse kicked at him, but Matthew ignored it and slammed him up against the wall. It stunned him, but didn’t knock him out which was exactly what Matt had been going for. 

 

“You know who I am?” Matthew asked, his voice the gravely deep one he used to intimidate criminals. Foggy had laughed when Matthew had told him that, but it seemed to work in action.

 

Jesse started struggling again but soon realized he wasn’t getting out of The Devil’s hold. “Yeah.” He snapped back, still acting tough.

 

“Good. I want you to listen when I tell you not to go near Mary or Oliver again. Do you understand?” 

 

Instead of answering Jesse kicked again, angrier now that his family had been brought up. “Fuck you man! You can’t tell me what to do!” 

 

“Stay away!” Matthew lifted him off the wall and slammed him down again, this time effectively knocking Jesse out. He didn’t have a full guarantee Jesse would listen, but the man knew Daredevil was paying attention which would at least make him think twice before he went after his family. Matthew stepped back, surveying his work. It was then that he noticed a new heartbeat coming down the alley at a casual pace. 

 

It was the woman he had noticed earlier. Matthew frowned, unsure why she would be back here. She smelt of anger and excessive amounts of cheap alcohol but otherwise there was nothing. She had no fear about the dark alleyway she was walking down or for the man she was approaching.

 

“Jesus.” She said with a sigh as she came upon them. Matthew assumed it was at him - it was something he heard often in this suit - but she bypassed him completely to kneel down at Jesse’s side. 

 

Fabric started to shuffle and she muttered to herself under her breath. “Goddamed asshoe, making my life hard.” She was pickpocketing Jesse, unconcerned that Daredevil was standing right there.

 

Matthew frowned, unsure exactly what was happening here. “Are you...digging through his pockets?” He finally asked.

 

The woman let out an even louder sigh and whipped her head around so quickly he was sure it had to hurt to look at him. He caught a whiff of her hair as it moved with her and settled back down. Under all that alcohol it smelt faintly of coconut. Some sort of conditioner, he assumed. “Are you seriously asking me that? Don’t you have some souls to collect or something, Beelzebub?”

 

Finished with her insult, the woman turned back around, clearly very intent on digging through Jesse’s things. Matt stood astounded for a moment, unsure exactly what to do with himself. No criminal was this brazen around him. Daredevil scared people and yet this woman had her back to him as if he was barely even a threat.

 

Matthew kicked himself into gear when she produced a wallet, finally doing what he was suppose to. “Hey!” He called, dropping his hand on her shoulder to turn her around again. 

 

Much quicker than he anticipated her being able to move, the woman swung her fist around at him. He held his own hand out to block but the sheer force of her’s pushed his own hand back into his stomach. He had anticipated some sort of retaliation when he tried to stop her, but had been unconcerned with it. How much damage could a mugger with no weapon do? Except that her blow sent him flying back into the wall behind him. He smacked his head and lower back into the cement and just barely managed to catch himself on his feet instead of falling right down.

 

His head throbbed but he could already tell it wasn’t a concussion. There were going to be some wicked bruises on his lower back and stomach, as well as on his poor ego. 

 

The woman stood up to fully face him, Jesse’s wallet still in her hand. “Listen, buddy, don’t you ever touch me again like that.” She warned him. It didn’t seem possible, but there was even more anger storming around inside of her than when she had first walked into the alley. Deep, deep down though he could see a small bit of anxiety that was churning around. She was hiding well with her yelling. She hadn’t been scared of him before, so why would his hand on her shoulder do that? Matthew wanted to puzzle it out, but there were more important things to worry about right now. 

 

“I’ve got work to do and you’ve already made it a hell of a lot harder for me by knocking all these assholes out. You know how hard it is to get information when no one can respond?” She shook her head at him and muttered a quick, “Jackass.” before crouching again to resume her search.

 

So she wasn’t mugging? She was looking for something? The blow to his head had slowed down Matthew’s thought process just a bit and so it took him a bit longer than he would have liked to piece it all together. The inhuman strength was a dead giveaway, and the snooping around helped cement in his mind who he was dealing with. “Jessica?” He finally asked, and that perked her attention again. “Jessica Jones? You’re working with this guy?” Matt pointed to a still very knocked out Jesse.

 

He’d never expected to run into Jessica after hearing about her, and he never thought this was what she would be like. She had fear hidden deep inside of her - but not of him. Nor anything else in this alleyway. She walked with confidence and went where she want and did what she wanted - apparently even while Daredevil was watching her. She threw punches without skill but with extreme force and spit out words just as viciously. 

 

In fact, she reminded him of an old lover, Electra, which should have sent him running out of the alley as quickly as possible. Yet all he wanted to do was unravel the mystery now surrounding Jessica Jones.

 

“I am not working  _ with _ this piece of shit.” She spat out, clearly disgusted with the idea. She had found a bunch of papers in his back pocket and was going through those as she spoke. “I’m working for his wife.”

 

Now that shocked him. He had just spoken to Mary earlier that day and she hadn’t mentioned Jessica at all. Yet there was not a hint of a lie in what she had said.

 

“She wants her and her son out, but Jesse has taken it upon himself to take their son away for a few days to ‘help him man up’.” She used air quotes and a slimey voice, almost making Matt want to smile. “Kidnapping is closer to what it is. I was going to very politely throw him against the wall until I got some answers.” He could feel her gaze sharpening as it focused on him again. “Until  _ someone _ knocked him out before I could.”

 

It did make some sense that Mary would turn to the city’s most infamous P.I. for help. Matt and Foggy couldn’t do much about a father having his son until after the divorce and restraining order went through, and the police weren’t likely to consider it a kidnapping when it was the boy’s father with no previous history of such actions. Jessica clearly worked quickly and had the strength to get the answers she wanted. 

 

Matthew held his hands up in an apologetic gesture. “I wasn’t aware he was needed for questioning, Ms. Jones. Perhaps you should send me a memo next time.” It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to antagonize her, but Matt really couldn’t help himself. If she wanted to fight him he was better trained, but she made up for that with brute force. If just a couple of her hits at full force landed, he’d be down and out.

 

He prepared himself for violence, but instead he received a snort and a headshake. She was….amused? Matthew tilted his head to the side again, a little more than surprised. She had been dropping the unusable papers back down onto Jesse’s chest as she read through them, the bits fluttering down like snow. “Didn’t know there was a fax line in hell.” She seemed pleased with the last bit of paper and shoved that into the pocket of her very well worn in leather jacket. 

 

The corner’s of Matt’s lips pulled up just slightly before he could catch himself. He masked his emotions once again, but the smirk on her face told him she had seen his little slip up. She was quick witted and funny when she wanted to be. That was something no one ever seemed to report on. “I’ll get one installed for you. We can avoid mix ups like this in the future.”

 

She seemed to look him up and down for a moment, humming under her breath before shrugging. She gave the the limp body of their shared target one more look over, clearly ensuring there wasn’t anything she had missed. “As much of a party as this has been, I’ve got things to do and I’m sure you’ve got to go to the local fetish ball.” Jessica leaned over to pick up Jesse’s wallet again. She slipped out the bills he had in there and shoved those into her pocket too. Matt reached out and stepped forward, intent on stopping her. “See ya later, Devil Boy. I’d take care of that cut on your face. Ruins the look you’re going for” She gave him a mock salute as she tossed the worn leather wallet back on Jesse before turning around and stomping out of the alley. He contemplated following her but a fight with Jessica didn’t seem like a very good way to spend his night. 

 

The masked man stood for a moment, hands on his hips in astonishment at what had just happened. Jessica Jones was a force to be reckoned with, and he was pretty sure she had won this round between them. He reached up to touch his wounded lip, the pain more present now that she had brought it up. With one last shake of his head Matthew lept up on top of the garbage bin in the alley and then continued up the fire escape back to the rooftops. There wasn’t anything he could do tonight, but that didn’t mean he was done with this.

 

It was time for Matthew Murdock to pay a little visit to Jessica Jones.

 

\--

 

Matt had been correct in assuming he would have a split lip the next day. It was swollen and sore and Foggy gave him that look that he knew Matt couldn’t see but could just feel. Matt had long since stopped giving any sort of lame excuse. Now that both Foggy and Karen knew who he was it really didn’t matter. That didn’t mean they enjoyed when he showed up with bruises and cuts. He counted himself very lucky that Foggy couldn’t see the big massive purpling bruise on his stomach from Jessica’s punch.

 

Other than his lip, Matt thought he probably looked pretty great. He was wearing the suit Foggy insisted was a ‘lady catcher outfit’, which to this day he swore that Matt purchased it just for that purpose. No matter how many times Matt had explained he did everything by feel, his friend was having none of it. 

 

“Nothing is that tight in all the right places by accident, Murdock.” Foggy had shot back at his defense. “It literally matches your skin tone perfectly and makes your stupid glasses look good.” Matt had opened his mouth to argue again but Foggy beat him with, “Has it ever not worked? Picking up a chick in that?”

 

Matthew had to shut his mouth, knowing the answer wouldn’t help him. Foggy was smug for the rest of the day.

 

He wasn’t attempting to seduce Jessica in any manner of the term, but he figured looking his best couldn’t hurt when he visited the prickly detective. He was hoping to get answers out of the P.I. and starting on the best possible was ideal.

 

Plus, she had mocked his Daredevil suit so he felt the need to show that he did dress well, thank you very much even if to her it was two different people.

 

It hadn’t been hard to look up where her office was and about halfway through the day Matthew told his partner that he had some business to attend to in relation to Mary Cook and would be back in a couple of hours. It was still daylight, so Foggy believed him instead of assuming he was running off to put on his other suit. She wasn’t that far from their own office and honestly Matthew was shocked they hadn’t run into each other at any point before. He was sure she hadn’t even slipped by him at any point - he would have remembered the way she smelled. 

 

Matthew walked instead of taking a cab, enjoying the fresh air. It was getting later in the year so the air was quite cold, but it wasn’t bad enough to make him want to hide inside. The walk also gave him a chance to scope out the area around her building and know what was coming long before he got there, giving him an edge. He didn’t expect anything bad to happen today, but being prepared never hurt.

 

Jessica’s building was old and not in perfect shape but it wasn’t as bad as some of the places still standing in New York. He was able to just walk in the front door - poor security - and he took the elevator up to her floor. She didn’t seem the least bit interested in hiding or staying undercover, a concept that was wildly unfamiliar to Matt. He wouldn’t ever live in a building without a buzzer at the door, even if most of the people he dealt with wouldn’t be stopped by such a thing.

 

She was just out in the open, Jessica Jones the superpowered woman. He was curious how she dealt with all the attention that came with that. How did she not spend her time worrying the people she cared about would be at risk? Matthew couldn’t fathom it.

 

Her suite was at the end of the hall. That was where her scent was the strongest. It was slightly present in the suite just to the right of hers, but not enough to suggest she spent enough time there to be considered living there. And the very distinct Jessica body moving behind the last door also helped give it away. Matthew made his way down the hall, his cane tapping as if to announce his arrival. She seemed unconcerned with the noise, having not moved from the seat behind the large wooden desk she had right in the center of the room. He paused for just a moment before tapping the back of his knuckles on the glass of the door. 

 

He heard movement before he had even finished knocking. She dropped her feet to the ground with a loud thud, and the chair squeaked as she lifted her weight from it. She was both irritated and wary about having a visitor, which was not a good way for things to start off if Matthew wanted this to go the right way. It took a few moments but finally the door opened just a few inches, revealing Jessica’s face. 

 

It was different, being around her in the daytime. She still smelled of alcohol, though not as strongly as last night, but she was definitely in the same clothes. “Who the hell are you?” She questioned, not bothering to be even slightly polite.

 

Matthew smiled one of his best ‘charming as all hell’ smiles - as Foggy had named them - and let go of his cane to hold out his now free hand. “Jessica Jones? I’m Matthew Murdock. I believe we have a client in common. A Mrs. Mary Cook?”

 

Jessica didn’t move to shake his hand nor did she open the door any further. She did continue to stand there, scrutinizing him. “Oh yeah?” She asked, the disbelief rolling off her in waves. He hadn’t expected her to be quite this distrusting, and it was throwing him off a bit. His blindness usually made people automatically assume he was harmless and then go along with whatever he said. Not so for Jessica. He was starting to get worried she wasn’t going to buy it at all and then slam the door in his face.

 

“Ahh, yes. I’m working on her divorce with my associate Franklin Nelson. I’m hoping to get this done as quickly as possible for her and get her out and I would really appreciate your help.” Matthew retracted his hand, returning both to his cane which he leaned forward on, emphasizing it slightly. He wasn’t against playing it up when needed. He also hoped playing to her desire to help Mary would work. There was something in her, something in the way she had been so irritated at Jesse that told Matthew that this case wasn’t just about the money for her. 

 

There was a few moments of silence between them as she considered his request. He took that time to listen to her perfectly even breathing. There was no hitch or catch that insinuated she was about to slam the door, which was good. “Fine.” She finally said, followed by a long exhale of annoyance and her opening the door for him. She stepped away, giving him room but otherwise offered him no help. He took a couple steps in, closing the door behind himself, and stopped right into the middle of the room. He couldn’t just go about navigating her apartment on his own.

 

“Seat is two steps in front of you, if you want it.” Jessica offered up to him, and he took it. Exactly two steps forward he touched the edge of a worn chair, which he sat down in gently. His stomach protested when he folded the muscles to sit and his back wasn’t any happier, but he pushed through anyways.

 

Most people felt the need to latch onto his arm immediately and lead him along when he entered their homes or businesses, but Jessica gave him space and the option not to sit at all if he didn’t really want to. The gesture seemed strangely kind for the aggressive woman, but it was appreciated nonetheless. 

 

He also remembered her aversion to his touch from last night and the anxiety it had brought, so Matt assumed that was part of it too. She had been through more than anyone would truly understand with Kilgrave, so it wouldn’t be surprising.

 

Jessica went back around to her seat sitting behind the large wooden desk and dropped herself down with much less grace than Matt had. She shut the laptop that was open in front of her. She had been working before he arrived.

 

Her eyes locked in on his lip and the wound there, but she made no comment. “Do you often visit with P.I.s for your official case business, Mr. Murdock?” She questioned, still wary of him.

 

Matthew chuckled and shook his head. “No. This would be my first time. But this is a unique case and I want to ensure it goes in Mary’s favour.” That seemed to please her, the distrust in her melting just slightly. “And I know you’re working with her, though she’s reluctant to tell me exactly why. I was hoping you could answer a few questions to help move all this along.”

 

“I’m not telling you why she came to me.” Jessica bit out, almost cutting Matthew’s sentence off in her haste to make that clear. 

 

“Of course not. My questions were just about her husband, Jesse.” She waved her hand at him, permitting him to continue with his questions. “Alright. First off, have you ever met Jesse Cook?”

 

Jessica scoffed and shook her head, letting her distaste for the man seep into the sound. She clearly wasn’t one to be impartial. “Sort of.” She responded. Matthew tilted his head as if confused about what she meant, encouraging her to elaborate. “He was knocked out so we didn’t really get a chance to have a heart to heart. You can thank The Friendly Neighborhood Devil for that.”

 

“Wha…?” Matthew frowned, really playing up his confusion now. It was better than showing how irritated he was by the name she had chosen for him. “Oh, you mean Daredevil? You met him? I’ve heard he’s quite intimidating.”

 

Jessica hummed under her breath and was staring hard at him again. Her assumption that he couldn’t tell made her bolder. Clearly she was attempting to figure him out, and while he couldn’t blame her because he had been doing the same, it wasn’t exactly appreciated. He had a lot of secrets he needed to keep to himself. “I didn’t realize he would be involved in all this too.” He finally added when she kept silent.

 

“Yeah. What a coincidence.” She didn’t sound completely convinced, but at least she had stopped staring at him and had leaned back in her chair. “He was yelling at Jesse to not go near  his wife and kid anymore. Not sure how The Devil knows about what a dipshit someone as insignificant as Jesse is, but I’m sure it’ll keep him in hiding for at least a little bit. What that does mean is I didn’t get an actual chance to speak to our client’s husband, so I can’t report on exactly how shitty he is. Which is what I’m sure you were going for with that question.”

 

It had been. Jessica Jones was observant to say the least. He nodded, accepting that he wouldn’t be getting an answer to that line of questioning. He did however manage to catch that Jessica thought what he had done worked, and there was a small bit of pleased within her when she talked about it. She liked that Daredevil had stood up for Mary, even if she wasn’t too fond of the masked man herself.

 

Matthew really shouldn’t care about that as much as he did.

 

“So you’ve never observed him getting physical with his wife?” He tried another route, knowing she had been following him last night at the bar. Perhaps she had been on him for longer than Matthew knew.

 

“No, have you?” Matthew couldn’t help but chuckle at that comment, the pure surprise of it shocking him. No one talked like that with him.

 

He shook his head, still smiling. “No, I have not.”

 

“I did see the black eye she was sporting in my office and the split lip.” Jessica was leaning forward again, something inside her sparking. “Looked a lot like yours, actually. Just for reference.” 

 

Matthew automatically reached up to touch his lip and winced just slightly. His hand dropped back down again and he shrugged. “Fell the other day while I was walking.” He did his best ‘I’m blind can you blame me?’ look. The very one he had perfected on Foggy. 

 

Jessica seemed to be considering his response. It didn’t completely satisfy her, he could still sense her distrust and he could feel her probing gaze, but it at least settled the matter of his split lip for now. He had planned to ask her if she felt the wounds had been inflicted upon Mrs. Cook by another person, but was concerned it would once again draw too much attention to his own wound. Besides, they both knew it was and one P.I.s opinion wasnt really concrete evidence. 

 

“Do you believe Mrs. Cook is in immediate danger?” He asked instead.

 

Jessica was silent for a few moments, a wave of protectiveness crashing through her. She was stoic on the outside, but she housed a storm within. “No.” She said with absolute finality. And Matt believed it. Jessica had every intention of keeping Mary safe. “Not if her husband listens to Daredevil for now.” It was a cover up for her true intentions, but Matthew would let her have it.

 

“I thank you for your help then, Ms. Jones.” Matthew stood from his chair as he spoke, carefully stepping back into open space. Jessica didn’t move, clearly not interested in showing him out. “And as well for letting me in to speak to you about this. I’m sure your clients are very important to you.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” She waved him off, clearly not one for flattery. 

 

“If you do come across any evidence that her injuries are not accidental in nature or anything else you feel might be helpful, please feel free to contact me. I would like to get Mrs. Cook out of her situation as badly as you.”

 

Matthew pulled a white business card from his pocket and slid it across the antique desk. Foggy had printed them both a set, insisting they were classy and sleek. The texture was nice with the embossed letters, which was about as much as he could tell about it.  Apparently the text was gold, or so his friend said. Matthew could have been giving out purple business cards for all he knew. Jessica picked the card up and seemed to study it before tucking it away into the pocket of her jeans. She didn’t outright dismiss it, which he was going to consider a positive. 

 

With one last head tilt as a goodbye, Matthew made his way out of the office and shut the door behind himself. As soon as she was alone again Jessica reached down to the flood behind her desk where a bottle of Whiskey had been waiting. She removed the cap and leaned back to drink straight from the bottle. Now that he was gone she slid the card he had given her out of her pocket and stared at it as she drank.

 

He couldn’t say that their meeting had gone exactly as he had wanted, but overall it hadn’t been terrible. He had learned for sure that Jessica was not a threat to Mary, and perhaps was going to be a lot of help to the frightened woman. She was a defensive person who kept her emotions in check, which unfortunately for her, did nothing to stop Matt from seeing them. 

 

The enigma that was Jessica Jones had become slightly clearer for Matt, but it still wasn’t nearly enough. He figured he would be satisfied after this meeting, but as he made his way back to his office again he was still thinking about the snarky woman. She was the first person to ever distrust him in such a way, and to actually spend any real time trying to figure him out. Even Electra had seen what she wanted to see and tried to build Matt up around that. Jessica had tried to get to the core of him, which made him very uncomfortable. Yet he had been sitting there doing the exact same thing to her. They were oddly matched in that regard.

 

Whatever it was that was drawing him to Jessica, it wasn’t gone yet. Matthew was going to figure out another way to piece this puzzle together and get Jessica out of his system completely.

 

\--

 

It was five days before Matthew saw Jessica again. He had only been out as Daredevil twice in that time. Mary’s case was a top priority for Nelson and Murdock, and they were both spending a lot of time getting prepared for it. It wasn’t a difficult case per se, but Jesse could put up a real fight- and they suspected he would - and they wanted to be ready for that. He was going to see this as a blow to his pride, and criminals didn’t react well to that.

 

It wasn’t that he had  _ hoped _ he would run into Jessica while out at night exactly, but he was looking for a chance to redeem Daredevil in her eyes just a little bit. But surprise, surprise, she didn’t seem interested in hanging out where the local gangs did. And after Matt had finished with them, the local gangs didn’t feel like hanging around there either. 

 

Late in the afternoon on the fifth day since Matthew had visited Alias Investigation, Jessica stomped her way into the office of Nelson and Murdock. She was an extremely heavy stepper, with a slight drag of her feet every couple of steps. He had heard the steps coming towards their office but had assumed it was either a new client or someone with aggressive tendencies come to ‘teach them a lesson about what they were doing.’ That happened a lot when people lost. Matthew smirked to himself in his office - he had been half right with the aggressive part. 

 

Jessica was holding some sort of large envelope in her hand and was studying their waiting room with great scrutiny. Foggy was already out of his office and walking towards their visitor. Matthew remained seated for now, listening to the pair.

 

“Jessica Jones?” Foggy sounded stunned for a moment and paused his steps. The man’s professionalism kicked in quickly and he moved forward again, determined to be a good host to their visitor. “I’m Franklin Nelson. Is there anything I can help you with? In need of some legal advice?” Foggy had held his hand out for her to shake, which Jessica looked at and promptly dismissed. So it wasn’t just his hand she refused to shake, Matthew noted with some satisfaction.

 

Jessica was silent for a moment and Matthew assumed she was using that time to study his partner. Her suspicion lessoned to almost nothing and her body visibly relaxed just slightly. Should he be offended that she was much less suspicious of Foggy than himself? Or flattered? “Yeah, no. I’m looking for Murdock.” She responded and Matthew watched Foggy deflate with great amusement. 

 

“Ahhhh, yes, my excellent partner. He’s back in his office working but I’m sure he can spare a few minutes.” Foggy turned to face his office, raising his voice a little as he spoke next. “Matt, can you come out here for a moment please?” Foggy still played the charade well and Matt was nothing but thankful for it. Matthew stood from his desk and grabbed his cane. The ‘tap, tap, tap’ announced his arrival to the pair in the other room. He emerged from his office with a gentle smile on his face.

 

“Yes, Foggy? Is someone here? I heard you talking.” Matt was sure Foggy was internally rolling his eyes. Jessica shifted her weight to her other leg and tapped three of her fingers against her now resting thigh. She seemed impatient with them both, which was not out of character for her.

 

“Yup! Jessica Jones is here to see you.” Foggy waved towards her general direction.

 

Matthew pointed his smile towards the front door instead of to the exact spot he knew Jessica was standing. “Oh, Ms. Jones, I didn’t expect to hear from you again so soon. Would you like to step into my office?” Matthew turned his body just slightly, extending his hand out towards his office in invitation. Jessica took a moment before accepting his offer, trudging in the direction he had pointed her. Matthew followed behind, keeping a safe distance. As they disappeared he could hear Foggy muttering about the pretty one’s always coming for Matt and how he just seemed to attract all the super people in a hundred mile radius. Matt couldn’t help but smirk, knowing that Foggy was aware Matt could hear him.

 

Jessica turned at this exact moment, catching his smirk. “What’s so funny?” She asked in a tight voice, irritation brewing inside of her. Clearly she had assumed it was directed at her - as she was the only other person in the room - and really hadn’t taken that well.

 

“Nothing at all. Your visit is simply unexpected. I had assumed I wouldn’t be seeing you again.” Jessica didn’t seem fully pleased with his answer, but she let it drop. Matthew walked past her to his desk, a reversal of their positions when he had been visiting her. He felt out for his chair before slowly sitting himself into it. Jessica ignored both of the seats waiting before his desk and chose to instead pace around a bit, staring at some of his things. When she didn’t offer up any explanation to her visit, Matthew cleared his throat. “Is there anything I can help you with, Ms. Jones? Or is this purely a social visit?”

 

Jessica scoffed at that suggestion, but it did exactly what Matthew expected it would. Not wanting this to seem like a social call, she came forward and slapped down her envelope on the desk. “Proof.” Was her single word of explanation. 

 

Matthew slid the envelope towards himself and carefully pulled it’s contents out. There were several thin glossy sheets of paper. Photographs then. Very calmly he laid them out before before himself and folded his hands together. It only took a few moments of him sitting there staring at the wall behind Jessica for her to catch on. “Oh shit. Right. I forgot.” She came forward, clearly uncomfortable. 

 

Matthew chuckled and waved her off. “It’s fine. Happens. Would you mind telling me what proof you’ve brought?”

 

Jessica leaned over his desk, gathering the photos into a neat pile. “You asked if I had seen Jesse being physical with his wife. Now I have. And I got it on camera. People never think about open blinds.”

 

Matthew blinked behind his glasses a couple of times, stunned with the information that she had just presented him with. One, Jesse had gone against Daredevil’s instructions, which didn’t usually happen with low level criminals. Two, that technically made it his fault that this had happened. He hadn’t been paying attention close enough attention to Jesse. He had thought his warning would be enough and Mary would be safe. And three, Jessica had actually gone out and got him what he had wanted despite her cold attitude towards him. And even if the trip hadn’t been explicitly for these photos, she had thought to bring them to him after getting them.

 

To give himself another few moments to collect his thoughts, Matthew adjusted his glasses and shifted in his seat. “He went back?” He finally asked, fingers brushing over the glossy material. “I thought you said Daredevil gave him a warning.”

 

Jessica shrugged, but from the tension in her shoulders she was just as irritated. “Yeah. Well. Turns out he’s dumber than expected. I’ve been watching Mary’s place every night. He stayed away for the first three, but last night he came back. I wasn’t expecting it and was too far away to get to him before he had taken off again. I did manage to get these though.”

 

She had been acting as Mary’s personal bodyguard every night since her encounter with Jesse, probably sitting on some cold rooftop watching. Which meant she probably blamed herself just as much for what had happened. Matthew felt a pang of sympathy for her, knowing exactly what that was like. They were really far similar than he had originally thought. 

 

“Thank you.” He said, sincerity ringing in his voice. “I’m sure it was awful to witness that, but these will be a great help to us. I’ll have Foggy look them over.” Jessica nodded and so he slid them all away into the envelope again. He paused for a moment, moving his gaze a little bit closer to where she was actually standing. “It’s...not your fault you couldn’t get there, Jessica. Just so you know. You couldn’t have known.”

 

Jessica had gone very still and refused to move her gaze from out his window. Her anger didn’t flare up though, which means she had at least appreciated his comment somewhat. She probably just didn’t know what to do with it. It was the first time he had ever used her first name on it’s own too, which was weird for both of them. It felt good in his mouth though, which was something he was afraid to dissect too much. He pushed that thought far into the back of his mind to be ignored. 

 

“Doesn’t matter. It’s not going to happen again.” She finally said, moving once again. She rapped her knuckles on his desk a couple times, a goodbye before she made her way to his door. “See ya later, Matty.” She called, disappearing back out into the main room before he could say anything in response. He sat there for a while, listening to her walk away for as long as he possibly could. He’d never forget that stride again. His office smelt like her - worn leather, alcohol, coconut conditioner, and something that was very uniquely her. There seemed to be a new layer to it every time they met. 

 

Over and over in his mind he repeated the way Matty had sounded coming out of her mouth. Finally, when he could no longer justify just sitting around, he got up to deliver the photos to Foggy. It was time to get on with the rest of the day. He wasn’t stupid. He knew what she meant by not letting it happen again and there was no way he was letting her go back there alone.

 

\--

 

Exactly as expected he found her sitting on a fire escape directly across from Mary’s apartment that same night. She was lucky Mary was only two floors up, leaving Jessica low enough to jump down if she needed to move quickly. It probably wouldn’t be too great for whatever was below her, but he doubted she was that concerned with it. He gracefully climbed down to her level from the rooftop, not making a single sound until he landed on his feet beside her. She jumped just slightly and turned to look at him, her body tense and ready to fight if needed.

 

“Oh. It’s you.” She commented, her body relaxing. Not fully he noticed, as if she was readying herself to possibly have to swing at him again. “How’s your stomach?”

 

She clearly wasn’t asking out of any actual concern, her tone was amused and she was radiating smugness. He shook his head and leaned back against the brick wall of the apartment. “Fine, thanks.” He gave her no other information, not wanting her to know how much it had actually ended up bruising. “You spend a lot of time staking out people?” He asked, switching their topic.

 

Jessica turned to look at him for a moment and he was sure she was glaring daggers. “Do you?” She retaliated, turning back around. It felt very similar to their conversation in her office just a few days ago.

 

“I just got here.” He replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“You beat the shit out of her husband only a few days ago and now you just happen to be outside her apartment? Sounds a lot like a planned visit. Staking out.” She sounded smug again, which he was pretty sure was her natural state when she wasn’t pissed off. She liked proving him wrong.

 

“I make sure my people are safe.” He retaliated. 

 

“Is that what you call what happened to her?” Jessica just sounded unimpressed now, which was completely fair. He had let Mary down, but that wasn’t going to happen again.

 

“I assumed too much of Jesse. It won’t happen again.” She seemed to accept that answer. They could pass blame back and forth all they wanted, but that didn’t change what happened. And it probably wouldn’t make either of them feel less guilty. They could only make up for it now.

 

“Doesn’t matter anyways. I got this. He’s not getting within five feet of the building.” She sounded so sure of that fact. He was almost impressed. 

 

“Apartment’s back door?”

 

“Lock has been mysteriously damaged beyond immediate repair.” She fired back almost as soon as he was done speaking. There was no mystery about it. She had broken it to make her watch easier. “All bottom floor windows are barred. Front door is the only way in or out.”

 

She was good at what she did. Now he was actually impressed. Jessica didn’t half ass her work, even if she made it seem like she didn’t give a shit about it. “What about you?” He asked, throwing her off. He could sense the confusion in her as she tried to understand what it was he was getting at. 

 

“What about me?” She finally asked, clearly exceptionally unhappy about not understanding.

 

“What about sleep? Food? You can’t sit here all night.” She scoffed and dug around in her pockets, finally producing a small flask filled with liquid. The scent took a moment to get to him through the metal container, but he eventually found it was Whisky inside. 

 

“Got all I need. Don’t sleep much anyways.” She paused to sip from the very flask she had shown off. “Besides, weren’t you going to sit here all night? Pot, meet kettle.” 

 

He frowned, because that was exactly what he had been planning to do. It meant he couldn’t watch the rest of the city, but he had taken Mary on and needed to see this through. It concerned him, just how observant Jessica really was. He had made no indication that he was going to stay here, and yet she just knew.

 

“I’ve been doing this a long time.” He finally offered in response. It wasn’t a denial, but he wasn’t outright saying she was correct. It didn’t matter though. The surge of power in her told him all he needed to know. She knew she had won that one.

 

“Doing what a long time? Creeping on women in a devil costume? Dude, maybe I should hit you again.”

 

Matthew sighed and shook his head. “Most people run when I appear. I can’t believe you are sitting here threatening me.” Jessica shrugged, even more pleased with herself at his comment. 

 

“Hard to be afraid of someone in kink gear, Beelzebub.” She was chuckling to herself, clearly pleased with that jab. Matthew might have been amused if he wasn’t already so irritated. 

 

“It’s not….it’s a protective suit. And it’s Daredevil.” He followed his words up with an exasperated sigh. 

 

“Oh, I know.” She turned around once again to give him a full on shit eating grin. She was amused by his irritation, which should really come as no surprise. “Are you going to stand there all night drawing attention or are you going to sit?” She asked, laughter still in her voice. “I promise I won’t make another comment about your weird fetish outfit. For tonight at least.” She snickered again before returning her attention to Mary’s apartment. As much as she was enjoying pissing him off, he could see her underlying sense of duty. Her attention would always return back to Mary. 

 

Matthew stood his ground for a few moments before finally conceding. He took the spot next to her on the fire escape. One leg hung over the edge and one was pulled tight against his chest.

 

With her this close he could feel her body warmth, which he would admit was nice. He doubted it would be that way for long though, considering how cold it was going to get as the night went on. They probably made quite the strange picture like this. Jessica Jones and Daredevil side by side on some random fire escape. They didn’t look like they were doing much to a bystander, and he wondered what conclusions people would draw. The thought amused him and he wondered if Jessica was thinking something similar. 

 

They sat in silence for a while, but it wasn’t at all awkward. They both were there to do a job, and that was the most important thing. It wasn’t like they had an excessive amount of things to talk about anyways. 

 

He turned to look at the side of her face, which was intently studying Mary’s apartment and realized he did have at least one question he wanted to ask her. “Did you track down Oliver?”

 

She gripped the flask in her had just a little bit tighter and her pulse skyrocketed. “Thanks to  _ someone _ making my job more difficult...no.” There was irritation in her tone, but it was at the situation more than directly at him alone. “I tracked down a hotel he had been staying at but by the time I got there they had already moved on.”

 

Well that explained the paper she had picked off of Jesse’s unconscious body. A hotel receipt had probably seemed like quite a big score to Jessica. Finding it empty would have been quite the blow. “If he shows up I’ll let you ask him before I knock him out again.” He offered, earning him a small huff of laughter.

 

“Yeah, if I let you get at him. I’m real tired of this jackass.” Matt shared similar sentiments about their target.

 

They slipped back into silence now that his question had been answered. Every once in awhile Jessica drank from her flask, which relaxed tensed muscles. At one point she even offered some to him - the biggest shock of the night in his opinion - but he reluctantly turned it down. He didn’t drink while as Daredevil, preferring to keep all his senses perfectly sharp. But he also didn’t want her to think he was just turning her down because he didn’t want to drink  _ with her. _ And it was in the moment that Matt fully realized that he did want to have friendly drinks with her outside of stalking down Jesse Cook. He frowned down towards the ground as she pulled back her offer and tucked it away inside her pocket. 

 

Jessica Jones made him think about very dangerous things, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.

 

The night passed uneventfully. Jesse seemed uninterested in returning again so quickly which at least gave Mary a night of peace. It didn’t help with Jessica’s search for her son, but he knew the P.I. wasn’t going to be giving up anytime soon. Unfortunately the long down time did give him time to worry about non-essential things, such as Jessica’s dropping body temperature. He kept an eye on it, watching for any serious signs of hypothermia. His suit did a decent enough job of keeping him warm, but Jessica’s ripped jeans didn’t stand up quite as well. She never said anything though, and there wasn’t any serious warning signs like excessive shivering, so he let it be. He doubted his concern would be too well received if he brought it up anyways.

 

Mary flicked on her lights to begin getting ready for the day just a few hours after the sun peeked over the horizon. Jessica reached her hands up above her head and stretched herself out. She hummed happily as the muscles relaxed and joints popped. She would probably be sore today from sitting hunched over for so long, but that came with her job he supposed.    
  
“We could trade off.” He suddenly said, voice a bit rougher than usual from disuse. 

 

“What?” She practically yawned back, one eye closing as her mouth stretched open. He felt the need to yawn too, but held it in. 

 

“Trade nights off watching. Gives you more time to spend searching for Mary’s son when I’m here and I can do my work when you’re here.” Jessica seemed to consider this for a while, no doubt weighing the merits against its drawbacks. She seemed like the type who preferred to get her own things done without pawning them off, but even she had to see the plan was smart. 

 

“Fine. You’re up first.” She finally agreed. He shrugged, not really caring either way. Pleased with his arrangement and having nothing further to say, Jessica jumped over the edge of the Fire Escape without warning. He moved as if to follow and help her, forgetting for a moment who she was. She stood on the ground below, the cement slightly cracked where she had landed. “Later, Red.” She shoved her hands in her pockets without waiting for him to return the goodbye and started her trek back to wherever it was she planned to spend her day. Her office, Matthew assumed.

 

Matthew stood on that fire escape as she left for far longer than he should have. It was getting really bright out which made it harder for him to get home unnoticed. And yet still he stood. Finally he forced himself to move, only one thought in his head.

 

She was remarkable.

 

\--

 

There was no explanation for what Matt had done other than complete and utter stupidity. He hadn’t really thought it through, and wasn’t that how he got himself into all his worst messes? It had seemed like a good idea at first. Jessica liked to drink. Jessica had done him a favour when she brought him those photos and she had offered Daredevil a drink on the fire escape that he had turned down. (Not that she knew that last one was part of this, but still.)

 

It was entirely possible in New York to have things other than flowers sent to people. In fact, it was possible to have very old, very expensive bottles of Whisky sent to people, specifically. It was much fancier than anything he had seen her with or smelt on her, but he was never one to cheap out on a gift and had never been able to enjoy something unless it was very pure. Which usually meant it was also very expensive. There were too many underlying tastes in cheaper things.

 

And although it had seemed like a good idea at the time, Matthew now sat behind his desk at Nelson and Murdock stressing over the ridiculous decision he had made. They weren’t friends - not really - and that was one hell of an expensive gift he had sent. Jessica wouldn’t take to attempts to buying her off, which hadn’t been what he was doing but he could see how it would seem like that.

 

He’d never sent something like this to someone who’d helped him out before either, so what did that say about him? About Jessica? It would have been better to have just let things be.

 

Foggy had told him he was being weirdly jumpy and inattentive at their earlier meeting and had banished him to his office to work alone until he could calm down.

 

“You’re making me nervous just being near you, man.” His friend had said, clearly exasperated with him. It probably didn’t help that Foggy assumed it was something Daredevil related which was a fair assumption considering most things in his life were.

 

For once Foggy was wrong and Matthew couldn’t even point it out because he’d have to explain why he was wrong, and there was no way Matt was doing that. 

 

It was around the same time that Jessica had shown up at his office a couple days prior when Matthew’s phone rang with an unsaved number. His phone read it out to him, and he tried to place the number but couldn’t. Before it could go to voicemail he picked it up and breathed out, “This is Matthew Murdock.”

 

“You always answer the phone like such a dweeb?” Came back at him. It was the last thing Matthew had been expecting, and it threw him off for a few moments.

 

“Jessica?” He finally asked, sounding a bit hesitant. He’d used her name before and she’d been okay with it, and after the Matty she had thrown at him, he figured it was okay to be on a first name basis. He knew for sure it was her voice, but he couldn’t quite grasp the fact that she was actually calling him on a number he’d never given her. “How did you get this number?”

 

She chuckled back into the phone and Matthew wished for a moment that he could hear it in real life. It wasn’t the same electronically. “You know how easy it is to get something if you try, Matt?” She questioned back instead of answering. “I called the number on the card you gave me and got your friend. He gave me your cell number.”

 

Matthew wanted to both throttle Foggy and give him a huge thank you. Throttle because his friend was going to be smug about Jessica calling him - he just knew it - and thank because he had a bad habit for inserting himself in Matt’s love life and had given her his cellphone number instead of transferring her on the work line. Foggy was an excellent wingman even when he wasn’t really trying to be.

 

“Far too easy, I’m sure.” He leaned back in his chair, pretending to be relaxed even if he wasn’t actually feeling it. He didn’t want his anxiety to be heard through the phone. “Is there something I can help you with?” He asked, trying to move this along.

 

“Yeah. You wanna tell me why there’s a hundred and fifty dollar bottle of Scotch Whisky sitting on my desk right now?” It didn’t surprise him that she had looked it up. It was her job after all.

 

“I don’t know? You bought it and forgot? Someone left it behind?” 

 

She sighed over the phone, but he could hear the amusement behind it. “It says it’s from you, asshole. I’m pretty sure you’re the only lawyer Matthew Murdock in town.”

 

Matthew ginned even though she couldn’t see it. “It’s a thank you for the evidence you brought. You didn’t have to and I’m sure it put you out a bit - taking pictures instead of going after him - but we really appreciate it.”

 

Jessica hummed for a moment as if considering that. “We? So is this a present from Nelson, too?”

 

“No.” He said as quickly as possible without seeming too obvious. “I doubt he would approve of a gift at all.” There. That sounded believable. 

 

There was silence from her end for a little bit, so much so that he thought for a moment she had hung up on him. But he could hear the street noise in the background from outside her window and the neighbor’s yelling as well. 

 

“You want some?” She finally asked, breaking his concentration on the sounds in the background.

 

“What?” She had the ability to constantly surprise him like no one else. He didn’t really know what to make of it. 

 

“Do. You. Want. To. Drink. Some?” She said each word like it was a sentence, talking to him as if he was stupid. 

 

She was inviting him for a drink. Matthew found himself shuffling papers on his desk that really didn’t matter to settle himself. “Oh. Yeah, sure. I wouldn’t mind.”

 

She chuckled at him again, making him feel more exposed than he would have liked. “Nine tonight. My place. Bring nice glasses.” She ended the call without warning after giving her instructions. Matthew held the dead phone in his hands for a few moments before finally locking it and setting it back down. 

 

It took a few moments for what just happened to sink in. He was going to Jessica’s. For a drink. 

 

Maybe sending her the alcohol hadn’t been an entirely stupid idea after all.

 

He didn’t dress up to visit her again like he had last time, instead he went in the suit he had been wearing at work, comfortable and still stylish. The glasses she had requested were at his home so he could have changed when he stopped in, but decided against it. It might look strange if he always visited in his best suits, and she was far too observant to just get away with something like that. 

 

Not wanting to be late, he took a cab this time even if he could have used the extra minutes walking would have granted him to prepare himself for what was to come. He knew Jessica a little bit better now, so it really shouldn’t be difficult. Still. This was a whole new setting for them. Even as Daredevil they had been seated together out of duty. They had never been together just because they wanted to be.

 

But Jessica had invited him over of her own volition so she must just want him there. That thought made his heart do things he didn’t entirely approve of.  

 

It was going to be a bit of a balancing game for him tonight. Daredevil had agreed to watch over Mary tonight while Jessica tracked down Oliver and he was not about to let her down. He also didn’t want to miss this opportunity and knew it would look strange if he showed up to drink and then didn’t have anything at all. It was going to be an interesting and slightly difficult evening. 

 

Matthew didn’t have to be as hesitant as he walked down the narrow hallway to Jessica’s door this time, making the walk seem a lot shorter. His cane tapped all the way there, hopefully announcing his arrival as she knew to expect him at this time. Sure enough, Jessica swung the door open just as he stepped before it, ready to knock. 

 

“You always this prompt?” She asked as he walked by. It was exactly nine on the dot, just as he had planned it. She shut the door behind him and returned to the task she’d been taking care of before he’d arrived, which was apparently was drying her hair. She had a towel in her hands and returned to scrubbing it through the heavy wet strands. The smell of coconut overpowered anything else right now and as subtly as possible Matthew took a step away from her. 

 

She clearly hadn’t expected him to be right on time going by the state of her hair, or she just always ran a little bit late. “When it’s important, yes.” He responded. She paused for a second at that and looked right at him before going back to her task. 

 

“Drinking in my shitty apartment is important?” She asked from behind her towel. She was both mocking him and covering up the genuine shock that he thought this was important. Clearly she didn’t deal with compliments so well. Matthew filed that away in his mind under ‘interesting details about Jessica Jones’. It was getting to be big.

 

He shrugged, trying to make his comment a lot more casual for her. “You invited me. And I happen to know that the bottle of Scotch you’re offering up is fantastic. I wouldn’t want to be late for that.”

 

That seemed to relax her again which made him happy. “Yeah, well. I know some jackass who think’s it’s normal to spend a hundred a fifty dollars on a bottle of booze.” 

 

Matthew chuckled, which made her smile for a moment. She pulled the towel from her head and tossed it over the back of one of her chairs. Clearly she had decided her hair was as dry as it could possibly get without additional time or a blow dryer and was quite literally throwing the towel in. He liked that she was letting him be around her when she was doing something so domestic. “You do know you can get this stuff for like, twelve dollars, right?”

 

“Yes.” He said slowly, dragging out the s as if it was three letters all on it’s own. “I have a very...sensitive palate.” Foggy often made fun of him for the organic food he exclusively ate. It often cost more than a new lawyer should be able to afford, but he couldn’t stand anything else.

 

“Sounds expensive. And pretentious.” Jessica took a couple steps towards him, making Matthew stiffen just slightly. She reached around him to her gift that had been sitting on the middle of her desk behind him and pulled back again. “Glasses?” She asked, holding the Whiskey up.

 

Matthew could literally feel each breath on his cheek she was so close. It made him feel like he’d never been around a woman before in his life, which was ridiculous. He focused on keeping his own breathing perfectly even as he dug around in the bag he had brought with him. She was just staring at him, completely at ease this close. If only Foggy could see him now. He’d stop calling him a lady killer for sure. “Yeah, here.” He finally said, producing two glasses from his bag. She took them from him and set to work pouring them both out a decent amount. They weren’t ridiculously full, but they were bigger than the average portion at a bar. 

 

She handed one glass back to him and held out her elbow for him to grab. He set his cane down against the edge of the desk and took hold of her appendage. Slowly as to not jostle either of their drinks she led him over to a sofa she had tucked away in the corner. It was old and ratty and smelled a bit like must, but it was decently comfortable. She folded one leg up under herself and stretched the other one out to rest on one of the chairs she had sitting in front of her desk. He settled back with both legs just down, trying to take up as little space as possible in contrast to her taking up as much as possible.

 

She took a healthy gulp from her glass, clearly not too concerned about liking it first or not. He held his steady, just watching her. She considered the taste for a moment, eyes narrowed at the amber liquid. A satisfied sound followed, which he took as a good sign. “Holy shit. You’re going to have to keep sending these, Matty. I don’t think I can go back to twelve dollar bottles now.”

 

Matthew would admit that he probably looked a little smug behind his own glass, which he finally took a sip from. He kept his small, still keeping tonight in mind. “That’s more than a little out of my budget.” He said, enjoying the happiness that was radiating out of her from the excellent drink. He had been worried it wouldn’t be to her taste, but that clearly wasn’t a problem. 

 

Their conversation flowed easily as they sat there and drank. Matthew did most of the talking, but he didn’t mind that. He talked about Law School and his firm with Foggy and some of their ridiculous cases without mentioning any names. Jessica offered up a few details about her job, which was probably more than anyone else had heard. She seemed reluctant to share a lot about herself, but was enjoying listening to him. She had already finished one glass and had started in on her second when Matthew had only consumed just about half of his. He could tell that she wasn’t close to drunk though. Apparently whatever made her ridiculously strong had also given her a fast metabolism, making it harder to get drunk. He wondered of she also had a slight healing factor. 

 

There had been a slight pause in their conversation while Matt took a drink when Jessica blurted out, “How did it happen?” He knew immediately what she meant, but took a moment as if thinking about it.

 

“How did what happen?” He asked, turning to face her. He figured this would come up eventually - it usually did - and was honestly just pleased she was taking any sort of interest in him and his past. He was very used to her tactless way of putting things.

 

“You know.” She waved towards his eyes before seeming to remember he couldn’t see that. “How did you lose your eyesight? Were you born like that?”

 

Matthew removed his red glasses and set them down in his lap. “If I tell you, will you tell me how you got your power?” She seemed to hesitate, clearly not having expected that. She wasn’t angry though, which was good. He definitely knew Jessica a little better now, but it was still impossible to predict exactly what would set her off.

 

“Fine.” She finally answered, taking another large gulp from her glass. Clearly she really wanted to hear his story and deemed it worthy to give up her own.

 

And so Matthew recounted the story of the day he lost his eyesight. He hadn’t talked about it in so long which made it feel extremely strange to be discussing it again. But Jessica was giving him her full attention, not even drinking from her glass anymore, so on he went. It didn’t take very long to get through the whole thing, and he ended it off by putting his glasses back on his face. She sat silently for a few moments, staring off into space behind him. He couldn’t tell if she was thinking over his story or thinking about the fact that she was about to tell her own. Either way, he kept silent, giving her the space to process everything.

 

“Shit. That sucks, Matt.” He couldn’t help but snort at her wording, which in turn set her off too. They chuckled there on her shitty couch after his shitty story, which seemed to make it a little bit better. People liked to offer him words of wisdom or even worse, started to pity him after he told it. But she just said it like it was and moved on.

 

“Yeah,” He said, still laughing. “It does. But I’ve gotten used to it. Plus, Foggy tells me women really love the whole ‘wounded puppy’ thing I have going on.” He smirked over at her and he could just feel that she was rolling her eyes.    
  
“You wish, Murdock.” He wished she had used his actual name again, but still liked the way Murdock sounded on her tongue. She could probably call him anything at this point and he’d go along with it. 

 

As promised, Jessica gave him her own story in return. It was similar to his in that they both were doused with toxic chemicals, but Jessica had only gained, not lost. Except for her family, which she simply said hadn’t survived. It was clear she wasn’t willing to expand on that any further. She knew what it was like to lose parents, and Matthew felt a kinship with her in that regard. They really were eerily similar. 

 

“Well. It could have been worse. You could have grown a second head. Or lost your eyesight.” Jessica scoffed at him and gave a little push to his shoulder. She clearly was watching her strength, as it didn’t hurt in the least and only sent his upper body back just slightly. But it succeeded in breaking the tension following their two stories, which put her more at ease.

 

Matthew took another small sip of his drink while she finished up the rest of her’s. “Does your friend really think you’re some sort of lady killer?” She asked him, almost causing him to spit out his sip in surprise. 

 

He coughed, clearing out the liquid he had choked back in an effort not to spit it out all over the place. It was followed up with a slightly nervous chuckle. 

 

“Ahh, well. I suppose. He say’s I’m handsome and I use what I have to my advantage.” Jessica nodded at his words, eyeing him over her empty glass. She had it sitting against her lip, her teeth gently banging against it every once in awhile. 

 

“And do you?” She asked, leaning towards him. “Do you use it to your advantage?”

 

The first thing he noted was that she was very, very close now. The second was that she hadn’t contradicted the handsome comment and was in fact, asking him if he did use it. His entire body warmed at that thought. Jessica Jones thought he was handsome.

 

There was no way he was going to let her win this one. He found the strength in himself to sit up a little taller and ignore the way she was making him feel at the moment. “You’ll have to let me know.” He said, leaning in towards her exactly the way she had done. They were so close now - closer than they had ever been, and he could feel the heat coming from the blush on her cheeks. He gave her one of his most charming smiles before leaning back and reaching out to set his glass on her desk. “And with that, I have to leave.”

 

She seemed completely thrown off for a moment, still sitting in her leaned in position. Matthew stirring and standing up seemed to bring her back to the present. “Wait, what?” She asked, standing up as well.

 

Matthew felt around for his cane that he had left leaning against Jessica’s desk. Jessica grabbed it before he could and for a moment he thought she was going to withhold it from him to get the answers she wanted, but without hesitating she passed it over to him.

 

“I’ve got some work to finish up tonight. It can’t be put off.” Jessica hummed in consideration, clearly not impressed. She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck a hip out. Gone was the friendly openness. 

 

“What sort of work does a lawyer need to do at eleven at night?” She questioned. 

 

He should have known this wasn’t going to be easy. “A lot when he’s got an important case to win. Foggy will probably fire me if I don’t get this done.” He paused for a moment, letting that sink in before he continued. “I’m sorry, Jessica. I really am. I’d like to finish this up some other time.”

 

Jessica huffed under her breath but didn’t outright reject the offer, so he was going to consider it an okay for now. It might be a different story when he actually asked next time. “Thank you for sharing.” He added on. Jessica walked to the door and opened it up for him, stepping to the side to give him enough room to pass without any issues.

 

“Good luck with your….. _ work. _ ” She clearly didn’t fully believe him, but it was good enough for now. He nodded as he passed and she shut the door behind him almost as soon as he was past the frame. 

 

Well. That had still gone better than he had expected. 

 

He’d worry about all this later. Now, he had to get home and get his suit on to uphold his promise to the very woman who wasn’t impressed with him right now.

 

\--

 

His night passed completely uneventfully. He sat on the roof across from Mary’s house this time instead of the fire escape since he was on his own. Apparently Jesse was still satisfied with his last visit because there was no sign of him all night. Matthew used his time to think about Jessica instead - a common occurrence now. He had done his best to stop it, to push back all concerning thoughts of her and to just treat her like a fellow vigilante he needed to keep an eye on. And yet, here he was. 

 

Matthew Murdock had feelings for Jessica Jones. There was very little he could do about it now. And if he was being honest, he hadn’t really done all that much to curb it. Pushing away thoughts was all well and good, but he hadn’t bothered to not spend time with her. Nor did he keep himself from digging into her past. This was his own fault. 

 

Admitting it to himself had actually made him feel a lot lighter. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t completely unconcerned about it, there was a lot to worry about still, but it made him feel better to accept that he was well and truly interested in being more than friends with Jessica.

 

God, he felt like a teenager, thinking stuff like that. 

 

Things never went well when he felt like this. Anything stronger than a slight interest ended up in ruin. Electra had been a literal disaster, and he still felt the sting when he thought about what she had done to him. Being lied to in such a big way, being manipulated, it had really done a number on him. He had thought she was his soulmate, but that was a ridiculous overly romantic notion. They didn’t exist and Electra had taught him that.

 

His most recent emotional attachment had ended better than Electra, but not by much. Karen had been a surprise in his life. He hadn’t expected to fall for her like he had, but there was a path for him that apparently included her. She had seemed like the exact opposite of what he fell for at first, but just bubbling beneath the surface was a tough as hell woman who didn’t put up with shit from anyone and pushed to get what she wanted. He had been more than disappointed when things didn’t work out again. This time it was him though. His need to put on the suit and save the city had pushed her away. Lying about it definitely didn’t help either. He missed her, but now that he was really thinking about it he realized he had been thinking about her less and less everyday. Jessica was taking up most of that space now.

 

The real question was, what was he going to do about it? He spent a lot of time thinking it over and the unfortunate answer was - nothing. He wasn’t going to do anything at all. Not because he was frightened - which he could admit he was. Frightened by what could happen if he let himself do this again. Frightened by what it meant to be with another person with special abilities. But that wasn’t what was stopping him.

 

It was Jessica herself.

 

She was built completely of hard edges with only the tiniest bits of softness hidden deep beneath the surface. Which was fine, he liked her just as she was, but that meant he didn’t ever see her as someone who would be forthcoming with emotions. She probably didn’t let herself feel more for anyone - not after what she had been through. He understood that completely. He was pretty sure he’d be a lot better off it he could seal it all away too. Unfortunately for him, he had always worn his heart on his sleeve.

 

Emotions like his would make her uncomfortable and send her running. He wasn’t about to do that to her. They had a good thing going. She didn’t seem to have a lot of friends and while maybe they weren’t totally at that state yet, he couldn’t take the possibility of one more away from her. So nothing was going to be done and he was fine with that. 

 

Mostly fine with that. 

 

While his night had been less than productive in regards to getting ahold of Jesse, it did give Matthew plenty of time to sort through the ridiculous ball of emotions stirring inside of him. So at least sitting on the dirty roof in the cold hadn’t been a total waste of his time. The sun had risen long ago and Mary was leaving her home to head to work so Matt’s job was done. He stood from his crouched position and stretched out his legs for a moment before heading back home. 

 

He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, staying as obstructed from view as possible behind smoke towers and in the remaining shadows. It was fortunate for him that the people of Hell’s Kitchen didn’t spend a whole lot of time looking up. Even the massive amounts of super people bouncing around New York couldn’t stop it’s people from getting where they needed to go as quickly as possible. 

 

He reached his apartment without incident and climbed in through the unlocked window he always left for himself. Everyone thought it was stupid to leave a window unlocked in New York, but he was several floors up and when he was out in his suit, there was literally nothing of value in his apartment. When he and the suit were at home, that’s when he was concerned about anyone breaking in. He kept the window locked up tight when he - or the suit - was inside. 

 

Matthew pulled the helmet of his suit off and rubbed at his hair, loosening it from being pressed tightly against his head all night. He grabbed his cell phone and had it read out the time. It was seven in the morning which gave him a couple hours to sleep before he showed up to Nelson and Murdock. He’d be a little later than usual, but that wasn’t something new for either him or Foggy.

 

After removing the rest of his suit and tucking it away in his locked chest, Matthew let himself fall down into his bed, the soft mattress a welcome sensation. He did his duty and would never regret that, but god did he miss sleeping sometimes. 

 

For a moment as sleep pulled him under, Matthew smirked at the idea of Jessica laughing at his expensive sheets like she had at the Scotch he had sent.

 

\--

 

When Matthew woke up from his four hour sleep he felt good enough to get dressed and head into the office. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had slept more than five hours in a row at this point. He was pretty sure he had permanent eye bags, so the red glasses he wore really worked well for him. Foggy had even stopped commenting about it, which told Matthew it was pretty bad. 

 

He showered and dressed quickly, not wanting to lose any more time. His papers were all neat and filed away in their folders, so it was easy to pack them up in his bag to bring them in. His bag was completely empty when he went to slide them in, which told him he had left his glasses at Jessica’s in error. It didn’t matter really. He’d grab them later.

 

The taxi ride into work had been completely uneventful and the traffic was almost nonexistent, allowing him to arrive much earlier than planned. This gave him a few extra minutes to pick up coffee for Foggy. His friend was still unimpressed with him when he handed it over, but the bribe worked. Foggy let him head to his office without making a big deal about Matthew being late.

 

All in all it seemed to be an excellent day for Matthew. 

 

Until everything fell apart around him.

 

He had heard Jessica’s stride from down the block. It was easy to pick it out now, probably on the same level as Foggy’s or Karen’s. She was walking with purpose, each step a literal stomp. He wasn’t sure what had her so riled up, but he supposed he would find out. Her breathing was quick and her body temperature was elevated. That, along with the tension in her arm muscles which told him her hands were balled into fist painted a very clear picture. Jessica Jones was angry.

 

The door to their office swung open and banged against the wall from the force. He was surprised the glass hadn’t shattered to be honest. Foggy was out there first, clearly shocked. “Jessica?” He asked, but she ignored him this time. The man stuttered a few times as she shoved past, heading right for Matthew’s office.

 

Matthew stood from his seat, preparing himself for anything. Maybe she had found Jesse and he’d done something terrible. Maybe Jesse came after her? Matthew frowned, that thought filling him with a burst of rage.

 

Whatever Matthew had prepared himself for, he never could have foreseen what actually happened. Without pausing for a single second Jessica burst into his room. He went to greet her but she was moving quickly. He hadn’t even managed to get a hello out before she was taking action. She shoved hand into her pocket and whipped a baseball right at Matthew’s face, full force. Matthew didn’t even think about his reaction. He snapped his arm out and caught the ball just a few inches from his face. It caused him an extreme amount of pain, but it was better than having it land anywhere on his head. Only when he had stopped the projectile did he truly realize what had just happened. 

 

Matthew dropped the ball as if it was red hot. His hand was stinging but the pain faded into the background as he watched Jessica for her next move.

 

Jessica was practically panting with fury at his door, her chest heaving up and down. Matthew took a couple steps towards Jessica, moving around his desk. It probably didn’t help the situation that he navigated around perfectly fine without his cane. 

 

“Jackass!” She snapped before he could do or say anything at all. He had seen her mad, but it was nothing compared to this. 

 

“Wait, let me expl…” The laugh that cut him off was full of malice. He had never heard her sound like this.

 

“Don’t bother, Murdock. I don’t feel like hearing the devil confess his sins.” Her very directed comment made it clear why she was here and why she was so mad. Matthew had already known when she threw the ball - testing his reflexes against Daredevil’s - but there was no disputing it now. He didn’t know how she had found out, but she had. And now she was standing in his office probably debating if she should punch him in the face or not. Just last night things had been so good and now it was all crumbling down because of his second life. Again.

 

Thankfully she seemed to decide against hitting him and instead just stomped her way out of his office. No one bothered her on her way out - a smart move - and she slammed the door shut behind herself just has hard as when she had opened it. Now there really was a crack. 

 

Matthew stood beside his desk in complete shock. Not only was he concerned that Jessica was so furious with him, but she was angry  _ and _ had very sensitive information about him she could do anything with. She could literally ruin his life at this point. Matthew found himself curling his hands in and out of fists, anxiety running through him. All of this had been such a bad idea. He had known getting close was stupid, and yet he had still done it. And now his two worlds were going to both come crashing down.

 

Foggy stepped into his office too quickly to have been across the way in his own. His friend had been standing just outside, clearly worried about a very angry Jessica Jones coming in to see him.

 

“So uh….that didn’t go so well.” Foggy commented, shoving his hands into his pockets. Matthew scoffed in return. That was the understatement of the year.

 

“She knows, Foggy. How does she know?” Foggy stepped a little further in and shut the door behind himself. There was no one else in the office, but the precaution was really appreciated, even if it meant nothing now that Jessica knew.

 

“Yeah. I picked up on that. Didn’t need super Daredevil level hearing to hear her yelling at you.” 

 

Matt might have have found that funny if he wasn’t so irritated by this whole situation. “She could tell everyone, Foggy. It would ruin everything. You’d be dragged down with me. This is all my fault.” Foggy stepped forward and placed his hand on Matt’s shoulder, effectively cutting off any more of that downward spiral. 

 

“I am aware of that, and yet, do I seem concerned?” Foggy paused, letting that sink in. Matthew couldn’t sense any real worry form his friend, which was strange. Foggy worried about everything Daredevil related. “Yeah, you pissed her off. Yeah, she probably wants to punch you in the face right now, which I would definitely pay to see by the way. But from what I’ve heard Jessica Jones is a good person. Rough around the edges and real temperamental, but good. And would you have been spending time with her if you thought she was the type of person to leak extremely sensitive information just because she’s mad?”

 

Matthew had to concede that perhaps Foggy had a point. If he really thought about it, he honestly didn’t think Jessica was petty enough to tell the world who he was just because she was mad at him. They had been sort of friends before, which had to count for something, right? With that in mind, he relaxed a bit, letting out the breath of air he hadn’t been aware he was holding. 

 

Matthew would forever be thankful he had met Foggy Nelson. Their friendship wasn’t perfect, and there was still a bit of strain over his second life - but he wouldn’t be the same without his best friend. Without his  _ family. _

 

“Thank you, Foggy.” His voice rang with sincerity. Foggy had done wonders for him with just a couple of sentences. His breathing was already leveling back out and he could think rationally again. Jessica was mad, but there was no way she was ‘ruin his life’ mad. Even if it was a bit gray, she still had a moral code that she truly believed in. This would definitely go against that. Still, Matt knew he had to make this right as soon as possible. He had let things fester with Karen, and look where that had got him. 

 

\--

 

For whatever reason he felt better going to her as Daredevil. They were one in the same to her now, so it really shouldn’t matter either way. She was going to yell at him as Matt or as Daredevil, so he figured he might as well have a bit of armor between him and her. She had punched him once and he absolutely believed she would do it again.

 

She wasn’t hard to find. It was her night to watch over Mary after all. She wouldn’t abandon her watch just because she was mad at him. And she probably assumed he would stay away after the display earlier. Most people would. But then again, most people were a lot smarter than him according to Foggy Nelson. They didn’t run around dressed as a Devil at night. 

 

She was sitting on the edge of the rooftop above the fire escape this time. Her legs dangled over the edge and there was a slight hunch to her shoulders as she watched the building across the road. It was probably terrible for her back to be sitting like that. 

 

He quietly walked up behind her and came to a stop just a couple feet to her right and just slightly behind. He would still be in her peripheral vision, but was far enough away to be out of reach and therefore not easily throwable off the roof.

 

“We keep running into each other.” He started, hoping that going for light and funny would help ease things. It did not.

 

“Hell’s Kitchen is a small place.” She deadpanned back without turning towards him. “And you knew I would be here, asshole. Technically, this is stalking now.”

 

Matthew held in a sigh, pressing his lips together tightly. He had known this wouldn’t be easy. He decided to not rise to the bait, instead moving on. “How did you find out?” He asked. It was the question that had been burning a hole in his mind since he had calmed down about her leaking his identity. He was always so careful. Even Foggy and Karen didn’t figure it out this quickly - or at all until he had told them - but Jessica had. In just a couple of weeks she had discovered the one thing he kept secret from everyone.

 

“How does a blind man do what you do?” She shot back instead of answering his question. “Unless you’re faking that.” Matthew would have prefered to not get into the details of his powers, but she wasn’t going to answer anything of his until he satisfied her own questions. And this one seemed important to clarify. He had confided in her and she had him, and it probably hurt for her to think that his had been a total lie when she had told him nothing but the truth. 

 

He had really made such a mess of things. 

 

“No, I am technically blind.” Maybe it would have been better to have come as Matt Murdock instead of Daredevil after all. 

 

“How the hell does technically work?” She snapped, clearly not believing him. Which was fair. It sounded pretty ridiculous, even to him.

 

Matthew let out a long sigh before launching into the explanation. “The acid that took away my sight also gave me these...abilities.” He did his best to explain exactly what he could see and what he still couldn't. He described the body heat that made up people’s shapes for him, and the smallest changes in temperature or breathing that let him know what they were feeling. He explained how much he could hear and how far away. She seemed skeptical at first, but when he pointed out that acid have given her strange unbelievable powers too, she was forced to accept it.

 

There was silence between them when he finished. He let her process all the new information he had given her without interruption. She had relaxed a bit since he had first approached her, and the anger inside her had died down just a little bit. She was still ticked, but it probably made her feel better to know he hadn’t been lying about his sight. Just about his double life.

 

“So you can see when I move and tell when I lie, but you can’t see the colour of my hair?” She asked, trying to organize it all in her brain clearly.

 

Matthew nodded, smiling a bit at the simplification of his abilities. “Yeah.” He debated for a moment if he should tell her he could see that she wasn’t as mad at him as before just to prove it, but he figured that would just make her more irritated. “What colour is your hair?” He asked instead, now that he was thinking about it.

 

Jessica scoffed as if that was the stupidest question he could have ever asked. Which maybe it was at this point in time, but he honestly wanted to know. He supposed he could ask Foggy later, but he wanted her to tell him. “Were you targeting me?” She asked in lieu of giving him an answer. 

 

Matthew was quick to defend himself on that point, not wanting her to believe that he would do that for even a second. “No. No. After running into you with Jesse I just wanted to make sure you were doing good for my city. You have a lot of power, Jessica and I had heard so much. It’s my job to keep this city safe.” He didn’t need to go any further and tell her how much he wanted to keep coming back to her. That was all more than enough.

 

“Jessica,” He started again, needing to know the answer to his question. “How did you find out about me?” 

 

Jessica pulled her legs back from over the edge of the roof and stood up to face him. She brushed the dirt off the back of her pants without breaking eye contact. “I’m good at my job, Matthew.” She responded, sounding irritated that she had to explain this at all. “You came to me the day after I ran into Daredevil and had a cut on your lip in the exact same spot that did not look like it came from a fall. You told me Mary had mentioned me, but all it took was me asking her to know she really hadn’t. She didn’t want you to know about me at all since it might make her appear like an unfit parent if she couldn’t find her own son.”

 

She had paused for a moment, but Matthew could tell there was more. He stood stunned as she unraveled everything before him with such ease. “You showed up in costume the night after I told you Jesse had been back when you’d been nowhere near Mary’s house before that. And the real icing on the cake was that I followed you when you left my house after drinking. You know how fake it sounded, needing to do special lawyer work at midnight?” She scoffed and shook her head as if his simple lie had offended her. “Saw you climbing in and out of your place in costume. Double checked the ownership records and sure enough, one Matthew Murdock owned the place.”

 

Matthew couldn’t believe he had done so much wrong. People never bothered to look into him that much, and so he hadn’t expected her to either. But Jessica was naturally curious and liked to solve puzzles, so she should have known. “Plus, you and Daredevil had the same shitty sense of humor.”

 

That one little comment pulled Matthew back from the overwhelming crushing feeling that had been weighing him down since Jessica had started listing everything that had given him away. If Jessica could still throw her snarky remarks at him, she really couldn’t be at an unforgivable level of angry. And Matthew could be mad at himself - which he was - but what good would that actually do now? If she was going to forgive him eventually, he’d have to do the same.

 

“You laugh at my shitty humor.” He finally said, smirking. It was the first emotion he had shown since this whole conversation had begun, which really suited their friendship.

 

“Pity laughter, Devil Boy.” She shook her head and turned back around. It wasn’t a dismissal nor was she trying to be nasty, he could tell that much. She just didn’t want to leave Mary’s apartment un-watched for too long. If Jesse showed up while they were talking she wouldn’t forgive herself and Matthew didn’t know if she could forgive him for that either. 

 

She seemed to have nothing else to say, which was surprising. Foggy and Karen had both immediately tried to talk him out of what he was doing when they found out, but Jessica was content to move on apparently. Being who he was, he couldn’t just leave that alone.

 

“You’re not going to tell me this is stupid? That I should stop?” He asked, sounding confused. It sounded a little needy, but he was honestly surprised and expected the next words out of her mouth to be a scolding. 

 

Of course, no one could predict what Jessica would do, least of all him.

 

“I’m still not hot on the fetish gear.” She said with a smile. “But you do what you need to do. This place needs someone to look out for it, and I sure as hell ain’t no hero.” Jessica shrugged and played casual, but he could sense something about that bothered her. “Do I think it’s stupid that you fight entire gangs with nothing but a couple of sticks? Yes.” 

 

She had read up on Daredevil. Matthew knew it was a logical thing considering her work, but he couldn’t help but be slightly flattered.

 

“Do I also think you know what the hell you are doing? Most of the time, probably. And what sort of shitty hypocrite would I be to tell you not to do this when I’m out chasing idiots too.” That...really made a lot of sense. Jessica didn’t do big long speeches often, but when she did they packed a hell of a punch. “Besides. If I told you, you shouldn’t do it, would you actually even listen?”

 

Matthew chuckled and shook his head. She wasn’t looking at him so he did it verbally too. “No.”

 

“Exactly. So what’s the point? Clearly you need somewhere to let out all the built up rage you got going on inside you. Oh yeah, don’t think I didn’t notice.” Matthew figured it was better to just not argue that point. He felt good knowing Jessica at least half agreed with what he was doing. She wasn’t going to tell him to quit it, and he’d never tell her to stop what she did. This was...good. He really liked this.

 

He really liked her.

 

Matthew came to stand right beside her, both looking out at Mary’s apartment. “Thank you for that. And for not saying anything about who I am to anyone.” He found it easier to say it now that he wasn’t looking at her. Apparently she felt the same because she very pointedly kept all her attention on the building across from them.

 

“Who would have believed me?” She asked with a shrug. “That poor blind, defenseless Matt Murdock was really The Devil of Hell’s kitchen? That he hides that charming face behind a devil’s mask?” She scoffed and shook her head. Clearly it sounded ridiculous even to her, who had actual proof. 

 

Matthew smiled behind the mask, amused by her description. She did have a point though. Without visible proof to show to anyone, who would believe that? Still, she wouldn’t say anything even if they would. 

 

“You think I have a charming face?” He asked, focusing on that little detail. By the sudden rise in temperature in Jessica’s face he could tell she was blushing. He had made Jessica Jones, the toughest and most emotionally detached women in all of New York blush for the second time.

 

“Shut the hell up.” She shot back, but there was no malice in her words. She was just embarrassed. “You get to finish the watch for lying to me and pissing me off.” Before he could argue she was jumping down the fire escape, going from floor to floor with ease. She lept off for the ground at the same place she had been the other night and then with a salute in his direction, she took off.

 

Matthew stood alone on the rooftop, amused by what had just happened. She always seemed to get the upperhand when they interacted no matter what he did.

 

Honestly, he found that he really didn’t mind anymore.

 

\--

 

It was another two days before Matthew saw Jessica again. He had debated calling her, but wasn’t quite sure how she would react. He wanted to make sure she didn’t feel like he was being overbearing or like he was taking her space. 

 

It worked out in his favour that she came to him once again, removing all the worry about going to her. He could already tell she was in a much better mood from her stride alone, but there was a second set of footprints traveling along with her. He frowned, not sure who she could be bringing to him. 

 

She entered the office in a much calmer fashion, leaving their door some time to rest. He was sure Foggy would be exceptionally happy that there wouldn’t be any more slamming. Foggy was shut up in his office working, so Jessica came right for him with her guest. He didn’t sense any projectiles in her pocket this time - so he was already better off than he was at her last visit.

 

She knocked at the door, keeping appearances up for him. “Hey, Murdock, it’s Jessica. You’re about to owe me one hell of a bottle of Whiskey.” Jessica stepped in and was followed by what Matthew could tell to be a young man. He was nervous, but staying strong. He stepped towards Jessica and Matthew watched him relax in her proximity. Jessica made him feel comforted, which he found interesting. 

 

“Hello, Jessica. How can I help you?” He stood from his chair, buttoning up his suit as he did so. 

 

“Matthew, meet Oliver.” Jessica pushed the boy with her forward slightly. Oliver lifted his hand to wave and then dropped it back down, realizing the action wasn’t necessary. 

 

“Uhhh, hey.” He greeted. Jessica was radiating smugness, clearly proud of herself. She had brought him Mary’s son. Clearly Jessica had finally managed to track him down, which was a story Matthew would be asking about soon. 

 

“Oliver would like to talk to you about what happened with his father in the last few days. I think you’ll find it quite useful.” 

 

“Oh, of course.” Matthew made sure to keep all excitement out of his voice. They were going to nail Jesse, but he had to remain professional. “Please, sit Oliver.” He waved towards the seats in front of the desk which Oliver took but Jessica did not.

 

“Alright kid, you’re in good hands. I got shit to do. Call me when you’re done.” She ruffled the teen’s hair which Oliver quickly fixed. He warmed at the touch, which made Matthew smile while the two weren’t paying attention to him. Jessica was kind to children, which he took to be a very positive thing. One could tell a lot by how a person treated young people. Oliver clearly had developed a bit of a crush, going by the beating of his heart and the warmth of his body. It was...cute. She had left quite an impression.

 

Jessica gave Matthew a quick punch in the shoulder, keeping her touch light. “Later, Matt.” She said before leaving him alone with Oliver. Matthew didn’t spend a lot of time with teenagers, so he couldn’t say he was exactly comfortable with this situation. 

 

“Hey, Oliver. I’m Matthew Murdock. I’m working with your moth…”

 

“Yeah, I know.” Oliver interrupted him before he could finish, his tone very different now that Jessica was gone. “The divorce. Jessica told me.” Well, at least that made Matthew’s job slightly easier. Dealing with moody teenagers was not something he was accustomed to, so anything to make this easier was ideal.

 

“Well I was hoping to get some information from you about your father that might help your mother’s case. If you’re willing, of course.” Oliver sunk deeper into Matthew’s chair, his legs spread out before him. He crossed his arms over his chest too, making the perfect picture of teenage irritation. 

 

“I want him to leave her alone. And I don’t want him pulling this shit again. I’ll help.” Matthew had to be thankful for small miracles. “Jessica said it was better this way anyways. You know she called my dad a jackass right to my face? Didn’t baby me at all. She’s awesome.” It took a lot of willpower to not chuckle at the awed tone Oliver had taken on while discussing Jessica. Definitely a little crush. 

 

“Yes, she’s a wonderful woman. She cares a lot about you and your mother being safe. Why don’t you tell me anything you feel would be helpful, and that you feel comfortable sharing.” Matthew turned on the recorder he kept in his desk, putting it in plain sight of his guest.

 

Oliver shifted around in his chair for a while. The kid was playing cool, but he was clearly uncomfortable and not happy to be in this position. Matt honestly wouldn’t force him if he didn’t want to share anything, but Oliver’s testimony would be an exceptional help.

 

“My dad used to be real great. Like the best.” Oliver started, seeming to have found his voice. “Then he got into some bad shit. They thought I didn’t know, but they weren’t exactly stealthy and I actually pay attention, despite what my mom thinks.”

 

Matthew understood what it felt like to know what your parent was up to when they assumed you were completely in the dark. He couldn’t sympathize with the mother portion, but his dad also hadn’t been as sneaky as he had thought.

 

“They would just argue about it at first. Some yelling and mom giving dad the cold shoulder. But he got real defensive about it the more she poked at him, and he started...hitting her. I saw it a couple times.” Oliver grimaced and paused for a few moments. It was a hard thing to relive, his mother’s pain and suffering, but Matthew deeply respected him for doing this. “I stopped coming out of my room as much. I’d still hear it though, and she’d have bruises the next day. Always said she fell or something.”

 

Matthew knew that excuse well, though he had never had to use it under such dire circumstances. Every wound he suffered was because of his own choices, not because someone he trusted had decided to push him around.

 

“Then he took me with him in the middle of the night a week ago. Said he wanted to ‘toughen me up’ and get me involved with his work. I tried to get away a couple of times to get back to mom, but he wasn’t going to let that happen. I was tied to a chair for a bit in a hotel. But he said he felt bad about that. Other times he just manhandled me around.”

 

Sensing that Oliver was done his story now, Matthew leaned over his desk a bit, closing some of the distance between them. “I am truly sorry this has happened to you, Oliver.” He said. The teenager scoffed, but he could tell the sympathy had helped, just a little bit. He kept a tough exterior, much like Jessica. “I know it was hard to do this, but you have helped you and your mom greatly. Jessica and I will keep you safe, I swear.” Oliver would have to properly testify again later, but there was no way Matt was dumping more on him right now. They’d deal with that later.

 

Oliver shrugged, but it wasn’t an outright dismissal so Matthew took it as a positive coming from a teenager. The boy seemed more relaxed now that his story was done, and he took it as a great comfort that what he was doing was going to keep his mom safe. He loved his dad, but he could see the wrong in what was happening.

 

“Can Jessica take me back to my mom now?” Oliver asked after a few minutes of silence. 

 

Matthew shuffled some papers around on his desk, keeping his head down to hide the slight smile on his face. “I can escort you back, if you want to leave quite quickly.”

 

As expected, Oliver seemed appalled by that idea. “No thanks, Mr. Murdock. I’d feel better with Jessica. You don’t seem exactly……” He trailed off for a few moments, thinking up the right word. “Strong.” He finally finished, and Matthew really couldn’t disagree. He didn’t  _ seem _ strong alright.

 

“I’ll give her a call, then. You can wait in the waiting room.” Oliver shot up from his seat, much more excited than before. 

 

“It’s fine. She gave me her number. I’ll deal with it.” Oliver was out of his office quicker than Matt had seen anyone move in here and he couldn’t help but chuckle now that he was alone. Jessica Jones sure made one hell of an impression on everyone she met. 

 

Oliver sat in their waiting room with his phone permanently glued in his hands. He was trying to look uninterested, but Matthew could sense the small shake in his leg as he impatiently waited for Jessica to come back. 

 

It took her about an hour to arrive again and Oliver was out of his seat in a flash when she walked in. Matthew briefly wondered what she had to do that pulled her away while Oliver was here, but he supposed it really didn’t matter. She had deemed it important enough, so it probably was. Deciding to wave them both off, Matthew emerged from his office to lean on the door frame between it and the waiting room. Jessica noticed him first and pointed in his direction. “Whiskey. I expect a nice bottle.” Matthew laughed and shook his head. Oliver seemed confused by the demand but didn’t question it.

 

“I’ll see what I can do, Jones. Take care, Oliver. Please let me know if there is anything we can do for you.”

 

Oliver mumbled a quick, “Yeah.” under his breath before Jessica was gently pushing him towards the door.

 

“Let’s get a move on. I said I’d have you back quickly.” Oliver ducked out the exit at her instruction but she paused at the frame, holding onto the open door as she looked back at him. He was still standing in his office’s doorway, a smile on his face. Her heart seemed to accelerate for a moment before it quickly settled as if nothing had ever happened. It seemed like she was going to say something for a moment before she sighed and walked out their door without another word. Matthew really wasn’t sure what had just happened with her, but it didn’t feel bad. 

 

That had to be a good sign, right?

 

\--

 

All things considered, the next week of Matthew’s live was relatively calm and uneventful. He made Jessica wait an extra two days just because he could, but finally he sent her the bottle of Whiskey she had demanded of him. She had sent him a text which didn’t make sense when his phone read it out to him, but Foggy had explained it was a smiley face. He’d have to tell her emoticons didn’t work so well with him. 

 

He half expected another invitation to drink with her, but nothing seemed forthcoming after she received her gift. She had let him apologize and was on the road to forgiving him - but there was still irritation inside of her at him. She didn’t like that he had lied to her - that was clearly a big no-no with Jessica Jones - and she probably didn’t like that both Daredevil and Matthew Murdock had been keeping tabs on her. 

 

That didn’t mean she was ignoring him though. He received a couple texts a day from her - usually making fun of him. Some were questions, “Does Daredevil walk little old ladies across the street as part of his hero duties?’ or ‘I just realized you wear red glasses in real life you are one dramatic asshole.’ That one had been fun to hear read outloud. Matthew learned very quickly to only open her messages when he was on his own.

 

One had included a picture image, which she had to of known he’d have to go to Foggy to get a description of. The words along with the image were ‘Idea for a new suit?’ Matthew frowned, wondering what she could have sent him. She knew what she was doing - there was no way he could just ignore the image after that. Matthew had wandered into Foggy’s office and handed over his phone.

 

“What’s the image she sent me?” He asked. Foggy outright lost it, laughing his head off at Matthew’s screen. That didn’t bode well for him.

 

“Dude. Holy shit.” Foggy managed to get out in between his laughter, which really didn’t answer Matt’s question. “It’s a woman’s devil costume from an adult store. Very small and very tight.” Matthew went beet red and wished that he hadn’t let Jessica play him right into this. He was never going to trust her picture messages again. Matthew snatched his phone back, holding it tightly against his chest.

 

“You have to give me a copy of that.” Foggy requested, now doubled with laughter. There was no way Matthew was sending it to him. Not ever. 

 

But Foggy got what he wanted when he set his mind out for it which meant he’d be asking Jessica for it the next time he saw her.

 

And they both knew she would give it to him.

 

To Matthew’s great pleasure the other messages were mostly normal. She praised him for the alcohol he had sent this time. It was a different type than before but around the same quality, and apparently she liked it just as much. Others were just updates on how Oliver and Mary were doing. Oliver was still willing to testify against his father, which was good for them all. She let him know Jesse hadn’t been around in a while, which pleased them both.

 

Texting with Jessica felt so ridiculously normal that he really didn’t know how to deal with it. They weren’t the type of people to send messages back and forth. Well, she mostly sent and he mostly read. He responded now and again, when he was feeling especially sarcastic. 

 

Despite the overwhelming amount of space Jessica was taking up in his mind, Matthew did have other things to focus on and deal with. He and Foggy were pouring every minute they had into Mary’s case. It was going quickly, and she had just recently announced to Jesse that she was getting a divorce and taking Oliver with her. Apparently the man had lost it, but Jessica had been close at had as per request to keep everyone safe. She reported to Matt that the man had been livid as they all filed out of the apartment but hadn’t tried anything. 

 

They both didn’t believe for a second that Jesse was going to accept it without a fight. But Mary and her son had both Jessica Jones and Daredevil looking after her. She was in good hands. 

 

Jessica found them a decent hotel for cheap to stay at for a while until Mary found themselves a permanent place to live. As it turned out, Matthew had done work for the manager of the hotel a while ago, helping them with a case against a guest they had once. After speaking with him, Mary’s stay got even cheaper. Jessica had asked him if there was any person in Hell’s Kitchen they didn’t both know. 

 

He had responded, ‘Hell’s Kitchen is a small place.’

 

There was no response, but he could tell there was a genuine smile following her scoff.

 

Of course Matthew should have known already that when things were going good, something bad was bound to happen. 

 

Matthew had finally gotten his invitation to come over and drink with Jessica again. She insisted there was at least a  _ little _ bit of the Scotch he had sent left. Not that it really mattered. He would have come over for watered down beer if it was her asking. He agreed happily, though decided that next time they would have to do it at his place instead. Not that there was anything wrong with her’s, but he had a much more comfortable sofa. And actual glasses.

 

Nelson and Murdock were moving closer and closer to Mary’s court date, which meant there was a lot more work for the both of them. Matthew promised to be at her place in an hour, giving him time to finish a few things up. Mary and Oliver were still undisturbed by Jesse which made everyone’s lives so much easier.

 

Foggy left first, stopping by Matthew’s door frame to wish him a goodnight. He paused for a moment, eyeing his friend up. 

 

“You going to Jessica’s tonight?” The man had asked, surprising Matthew into complete stillness. 

 

“Why would you ask that?” He responded when he found he could move again. Foggy knew him better than anyone, so it really shouldn’t shock him that his friend knew. He just forgot exactly how observant Foggy could be sometimes.

 

He was pretty sure Foggy just rolled his eyes which was a gesture lost on Matt that Foggy still loved. “You’ve got this big dopey smile on your face, dude. You only look sort of like that when she’s texting you. With a smile that big, I figured it had to be a meetup this time.”

 

Foggy was a fantastic lawyer. Matthew took his hands off the keys of his laptop where he had been typing and gave his full attention to his friend. “I don’t have a dopey smile.” He started and the pure disbelief radiating off Foggy was immense. Fine. Moving past that. “But yes, I’m going to Jessica’s for a drink.”

 

“Or in her case, five.” It wasn’t said with malice, but they all knew Jessica’s habits. If given enough time Foggy would probably come to the same conclusion Matt had about why she needed to drink so much. “Well, I hope you have a good time, buddy. You haven’t been this happy since Karen. And Jessica already knows your dirty secret.”

 

Thinking about Karen again hurt, but not as much as it would have before Jessica. It was still a shame that he and her couldn’t even be called friends at this point. He made a mental note to talk to her soon and try and make this at least a little bit better. He missed her, even if it wasn’t in a romantic sort of way. Having Karen around brightened things up and she picked up on things that he and Foggy missed sometimes. 

 

“Think she’ll let you try on the little devil outfit tonight?” Foggy suddenly asked, pulling a groan from Matt. His friend was laughing again, taking the smile right off Matthew’s face.

 

“Get out!” He said, pointing towards the door. Foggy snickered as he left, waving at Matt before the door shut, sealing them off from each other. Unfortunately for Matt he could hear Foggy laughing as he walked away for several blocks.

 

Matthew worked for another twenty minutes on his own. He needed enough done to justify drinking the night away, which he probably had done now. It didn’t take him long to pack his things up as he kept his workspace pretty neat. If he lost a sheet of paper in a big mess of them it took him ages to find it all again. After getting all his papers in a folder down in his bottom drawer he slid his laptop into his bag.

 

Once all his things were packed up Matthew turned off the light in his office - which wasn’t even necessary but made other people more comfortable - and went to lock up for the day. He was standing with his back to the hallway, locking their front door when he heard the footsteps coming up behind him. They were slightly familiar, but he really couldn’t place them. They weren’t aggressive, so perhaps an old client coming for more help?

 

Matthew turned around to let them know that Nelson and Murdock was closed for the night but if they needed help again they could return early in the morning, but he didn’t even get a single word out before everything went black.

 

\--

  
  


Things started to come back to Matt in what felt like hazy pieces. Straight away he could feel the back of his head throbbing - so he’d been hit in the head. That explained why the world wasn’t coming into complete focus right away. His hands and legs were bound to a chair, that came next. He could now feel and smell the blood oozing out of the wound at the back of his head. That was something he was going to probably need stitches for. Claire wasn’t going to be very impressed about that.

 

There was no real way to judge what time it was but Matthew guessed it had been a couple of hours at least.

 

He could tell someone else was in the room with him, but he couldn’t focus his power well enough yet to know anything about them. They were just there, standing across the room. Matthew groaned and blinked a couple times as if that could help him focus what he was seeing. His glasses were gone - either they had fallen off or the other man had taken them. In the grand scheme of what was going on right now that was a relatively unimportant detail, but it still irritated him.

 

The man stepped forward and thankfully started to speak, giving Matthew one less thing he had to try and figure out with his dull senses. “Did she really come to you to take care of the divorce? How much use can a blind lawyer be?” Jesse Cook had finally come for revenge. He was incredibly thankful that Foggy had left long before him. There wasn’t much Matthew could do as his regular self right now, but he could take a few more hits than Foggy. 

 

Thinking about his friend made him remember his plans with Jessica. It was the least of his worries, but he felt terrible for standing her up. She was going to be so angry again.

 

People often underestimated him because he was blind. It was a fact of life and it had long since stopped bothering him, because he knew the truth. When Jesse said it though, it filled him with a rage that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. That combined with his irritation with missing time with Jessica and the thought that this could have been Foggy was sending him over the edge.

 

It took everything in him to remain calm. Matthew Murdock couldn’t break through bonds like this. He couldn’t do anything. 

 

“You clearly have a fundamental misunderstanding of how the law works.” Matthew finally responded, his jaw feeling heavy and his voice hoarse. It probably would have been better to just keep his mouth shut, but he had never been very good at that.

 

That earned him a punch right in the eye from Jesse. Matthew groaned again and slumped over to the side in his chair. He couldn’t tell what hurt worse, the back of his head or the front now. He was sure to have a terrible black eye for weeks now. He could already feel it starting to swell up.

 

“I been through a lot these last few days, so I think you better just listen for a bit.” Matthew didn’t say anything, for once making the slightly smarter choice. There was no guarantee that would last for long though. “First I gotta deal with that freak in the red outfit. Then some ugly bitch shows up and takes my son from me. Now I find out my wife wants a divorce and you’re helping her get it, along with full custody.” Jesse spit into the ground, a real classy move.

 

“I’m not just helping her.” Matthew looked up again, glaring at the other man. “I’m making sure she gets it.” His senses were getting stronger and he could tell Jesse was revving right up. Still, he went on. “You’ll never get near them again, Jesse. I’m going to make it my personal mission to send you to jail.” 

 

To no one’s surprise, Jesse punched him again, this time in the mouth. His lip split again and he could feel a cut on his tongue where he had bit it. There were no damaged or missing teeth though, so Matt was going to count it as a win.

 

Unsatisfied with the damage, Jesse picked up a metal bar off the ground - probably long forgotten piece of rebar from the last construction here - and swung it against Matthew’s left leg. That made Matthew really yell, the sound echoing around the room. It wasn't broken but it was seriously hurt and Matthew doubted he could stand on it now. 

 

“Drop the case, Murdock. Send my wife back and walk away.” Matthew really didn’t like the way his last name sounded when Jesse said it, especially after hearing Jessica say it so much. 

 

He smiled up at the other man, blood in his teeth. “No.” He simply responded, having already made his point.

 

Jesse practically threw himself across the room. Clearly he had expected this to be a lot easier and didn’t like that Matthew was pushing back. The man had figured a hit and a few threats would convince the poor lawyer to do what he wanted. Unfortunately for Jesse, he had targeted the wrong man.

 

The criminal left the room for a bit, leaving Matthew to sit alone in the cold room. His senses were getting stronger, but he still couldn’t see much outside of the room. The two new blows were probably not helping that. He was going to have to figure a way out of this pretty quickly. Jesse was determined and his pride was hurt - a very lethal combination right now. He doubted the criminal was just going to let him go.

 

It could have been any amount of time later when Jesse returned. Matthew wished he had any idea what time it actually was. He didn’t like not knowing.

 

Jesse marched right up to him and held a knife up to Matthew’s throat. It was decently sized and sharp, designed to go right through Matthew’s skin with ease should it come to that. He was nervous now, but was still unwilling to give in.

 

“Drop the case.” Jesse ordered again, pressing hard enough to draw a little bit of blood.

 

Matthew swallowed very carefully, not wanting to make it worse where the knife was already digging in. He tilted his head just slightly, enough that he could be making eye contact with Jesse, and with complete resolution he once again said, “No.”

 

He could tell that Jesse had honestly intended to kill him for it. Matthew couldn’t work on the case if he was dead. He assumed that’s what the man had been off doing - working himself up to actually kill someone. Petty crime and abuse were bad, but it was a whole different ballpark to this.

 

Luckily for Matt the wall to their left blew in, distracting Jesse. The man dropped the knife in shock and stepped back a couple of steps. The dust from the brick was settling, which caused both men to cough. Jesse could cover his face, but Matthew had no such luxury. From the rubble emerged Jessica Jones, her knuckles bleeding from where she had clearly just punched in the wall.

 

Never had Mathew been so pleased to see someone in his life. She was glaring at Jesse, anger overwhelming her.

 

“Oh fuck, not you!” Jesse called, scrambling for the door. Jessica was quick though. She chased after the man and punched him square in the face. Jesse stumbled back a bit and she went in again, kicking him straight in the stomach. Jesse flew back against the wall, the hit knocking him out. He slid right to the ground, his body limp.

 

Only when Jessica was sure Jesse wasn’t going to move again did she turn and look at Matthew. She was breathing heavily and her heartbeat was going crazy. She was completely wild in that moment and Matthew loved it. 

 

There was more than just anger there though. She was beyond worried about him, and he could see the immense amount of relief she was feeling at finding him alive. There was an undercurrent of desire there and he realized he had sensed her feeling it before, but had been unable to place it as it had seemed like a foreign thing for her to feel. But here she was, looking at him like she wanted to lock him away too keep him safe and like she wanted to eat him at the same time.

 

“How did yo..” She had been crossing the room to him while he spoke and before he could finish his sentence she had crashed her mouth down against his. Matthew sat there in shock, so unsure of what was actually happening. Was Jessica Jones kissing him during her daring rescue? The desire to touch her was overwhelming right now, and he struggled against his bonds. 

 

By the time he got with the program and started to kiss her back she had pulled away. Gently her fingers brushed over his face, avoiding the worst areas. Matthew was pretty sure Jessica would never let herself show emotions like this under normal circumstances, and he almost wanted to thank Jesse for giving her the chance. Jessica Jones cared for him. And he didn’t care if she had known it before or if this whole event had made it crash down upon her, because it didn’t matter. 

 

Jessica had kissed him. She had touched him with the care one might show to a lover. And even if it was never more than this, it was enough.

 

“You were late.” She said in a voice more gentle than he had ever expected to hear from her. “I called and you didn’t answer. Thought you were blowing me off. I checked with your friend to see if he knew what was up and he said you were getting ready to leave the office hours ago.” 

 

Jessica felt around his suit jacket for a moment before finding a lump in one of the pockets. She pulled his cell phone out and held it up with a smug look. “Your friend put a tracker in it ages ago, apparently. Wasn’t that hard to find you once we knew you were missing.”

 

While it had worked in his favour this time, Matthew was going to have a very long conversation about the tracker that had been planted. When had Foggy even found the time to get that done without being noticed? His friend really was a mother hen.

 

Jessica looked towards the now broken wall where Foggy was stepping into the room. She released his face but still remained close, her hand on his shoulder instead. “We could have used the door.” Foggy said in an unimpressed tone, making Matthew laugh.

 

“I don’t think he would have answered the door if you had knocked.” Matthew said. His friend scoffed, clearly unimpressed. Matthew would have liked to laugh, but stretching his mouth too far hurt and it was already suffering from where Jessica had practically attacked his lips. 

 

Not that he was complaining. She could do it again. Preferably really soon.

 

“You want to talk about the tracker that got you here?” Matthew asked. Foggy suddenly had a very innocent look on his face and found something very interested to look at just outside of the hole in the wall. His friend wasn’t escaping that easily, but Matthew would drop it for now.

 

Jessica’s cold fingers were on his face again, turning it side to side as she examined his wounds. “Fucking jackass.” She mumbled again. She turned back towards Jesse and he had a feeling she was going to kick him while he was down after seeing Matthew’s face. As much as the man deserved it, he couldn’t let her do that.

 

“Hey.” He called, bringing her attention back. “I know you think I’m into ropes, but mind untying me?” He could see the corner of her mouth pull up in what was the smart of a smile, and nothing had looked so beautiful to Matthew before. She did as he asked though, ripping the ropes right off of him.

 

Matthew slowly stood up from his seat. His injured leg was having none of that, dragging him back towards the ground. He hated feeling so weak. Jessica caught him and took most of his weight. “I can’t believe you seriously got yourself kidnapped. Don’t you literally beat up entire gangs all at once?” She scolded, arm wrapping around his shoulders.

 

“Well. I had a hard time seeing him coming.” Jessica groaned at his terrible joke which was a common reaction for him. “I couldn’t exactly fight him off as Matt either.” She wouldn’t admit it, but he had a point with that one.

 

Matthew tried to stand on his own again but his leg wobbled almost instantly. He was probably making it worse, which Jessica recognized. With a put out sigh she scooped one arm under his knees and picked him up bridal style. “Stop moving, idiot.” She said with what he was sure was an eyeroll. 

 

Matthew had never in his life pictured being in someone’s arms like this. He was much taller than her and had more muscle, but she held him up as if he was air. He couldn’t say he exactly liked it, but he did appreciate the care she was showing him. They just were never going to talk about this again.

 

“Holy shit. I’m framing this picture.” Foggy said, standing at their exit. Matthew was absolutely sure his friend had taken the picture and would do it. It would probably hang in their waiting room if Foggy had his way.

 

Jessica ignored Foggy and carried Matthew out of the room. His friend followed, dialing the police now that he was finished looking at his picture. Matthew’s saviour was mostly silent as she navigated over the rubble.

 

“Hey.” He said again, making her look down at him. “Thank you for coming to get me.” 

 

Jessica shrugged as best she could with him in her arms, blowing off his compliment. “That asshole ruined my evening plans. Had to show up.”

 

“To get drunk and make out with me?” Matthew blurted out, feeling bold from her earlier kiss. Jessica blushed and jostled him on purpose. 

 

“You wish, Murdock.” She snapped back.

 

“I do.” He said honestly, tightening his grip at the back of her neck. Jessica smiled for one brief moment before pausing to give him another kiss. This one was less rough, but the wounds still made it sting. He looked forward to getting the chance to kiss her when he didn’t have blood in his mouth. 

 

She pulled back again, the edges in her seeming to have softened, even if it was just for the moment.

 

Matthew honestly didn’t know what this meant for them. Jessica could set him down in thirty seconds and walk away, pretending none of it had ever happened. Or she could keep kissing him surrounded by dust and debris. (That was his preferred option.)

 

Whatever it was that became of them, Matthew was happy. Jessica Jones was a force that had quite literally punched her way into his life and he couldn’t imagine it without her now. And judging by the way she had come after him so quickly, she liked him in her’s too. 

 

They’d figure everything else out as they went. He had lots of time to be patient with Jessica Jones

 

“Now seriously, you have to tell me something honestly.” Matthew frowned, not sure where she was going with this. He had been a little lost in his own thoughts, so he missed if there had been any lead up to the question. He nodded anyways, willing to agree to pretty much anything. “Do you wear the fetish gear in bed?” 

 

“It’s not fetish gear. It’s a suit.” He grumbled into her neck. A lot of good it did him. She continued to laugh her head off as she carried him to safety.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I just can't get enough of these two.
> 
> Find me at QueenOfTheLostBoys on Tumblr and talk about these two nerds with me! <3


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